The Bottom of the Barrel
by The Oldererman
Summary: When the world is upon one man's shoulders, his will is put to the test. The merciful man turned systematic taker of lives, the archer whose arrow split the earth, the childishly pitiful sinless sinners...His allies are bastions of strength...and witnesses to his struggle. Sword or Death; will he fight or will he die like a dog? SI!, Some OC!Servants, AU!Singularities.
1. A Prologue

I'd always had a pretty romanticized idea of what it'd feel like to be at death's door.

Whenever I thought about it, I'd reach the conclusion that it'd most likely be a quiet, solemn affair; the world fading from view as time slowed to a crawl, thoughts of whatever business I had left unfinished filling my head as my life flashed before my eyes. Perhaps I would utter a desperate plea or two to God or whatever higher beings there were, asking for another chance.

Then those thoughts would be extinguished one by one as my heart started to beat slower and slower, the fist-sized organ desperately trying to delay the inevitable. And then after two minutes, there would be nothing left of me.

I was _partially_ right. I should be owed some credit for that much. Time seemed to go at a snail's pace and I mentally went through a mantra of desperate statements about not wanting to die just yet.

Of course, I was mistaken about everything else. It wasn't quiet, since I screamed and bawled so hard I was hurting my throat and couldn't breathe properly. I sure as hell wasn't thinking about my life and regrets, because I was in so much pain that I couldn't think about anything else. And the thing about my consciousness fading away? That wasn't happening either. Being fully conscious as I slowly went blind from shock was terrifying, even if it was the second time something like that had happened to me. Most likely because of all the other things lumped on top of it.

I let out an audible sigh, massaging my temples. That was _not_ a pleasant experience.

The First Singularity had been resolved. But all in all, I wasn't pleased with the way it ended; with me being sent to the sickbay as I bled out. It was a disaster, plain and simple.

The second I arrived at my room after getting discharged by Dr. Roman, I just jumped onto my bed and tried to take a nap, but I stayed awake despite my wishes.

I dejectedly raised my left hand to stare at the red markings on its back: an abstract pattern that looked somewhat like an eye. After a while of contemplating, I let it fall and plop down on the bed.

I nearly died.

It was kind of hard to process that. The experience was far less traumatic than I expected, but it was by no means something that I wanted a repeat of. Sadly, with the state of affairs being as it was, it was pretty much a certainty that I would have to put my life on the line again.

With all the Masters as badly wounded as they were, it wasn't like I had a say in that. Then again, I chose to come to this godforsaken place. The alternative was death, but the decision was mine.

My thoughts drifted back to how I found myself in this situation. 

* * *

The details of how I found myself in an unfamiliar place were, for the most part, unimportant. More than that, it could be said that there wasn't much point in speaking about them at length because there really wasn't much to be said.

It could be summed up with a bland, boring description of my day, with a witty comment or two, the fact that I went out for groceries, a blink of my eyes, and then _poof_, I was somewhere else. A city, still in my country from what I could see from the nearby advertisements but nowhere I could recognize.

That was all that could be said of that. What followed, however, was at least a little bit more interesting.

The whole thing creeped me out, but after asking around for directions I managed to calm down. Sure, nothing like this had ever happened to me before, but I could be at ease, knowing that I could just go back home. I had enough money to take the nearby subway and then hail a cab. After that, everything would be fine.

As I passed the turnstiles, I thought about what to do. The best course of action, I reckoned, was to tell my family about the strange experience and maybe get myself checked at a hospital, in case there was something wrong with my head. After that, everything would be just fine.

Letting out a yawn as I waited for the train, I walked down the platform while checking the bulletin boards to see if there was anything interesting. Like always, I found nothing of import: english courses, tarot and mysticism classes, political adverts and the occasional piece of graffiti. Business as usual. Everything was, and would be, fine.

As I approached the last one, however, I saw an emblem that I didn't instantly recognize, yet which seemed familiar to me. Out of curiosity, I decided to check it out despite hearing the train approach.

I got a good look at it and raised an eyebrow at the moon-like symbol surrounded by a laurel wreath. I dismissed the usage of the now-identified crest as mere plagiarism, but that soon changed as I continued to examine it.

The train came, opened its doors, stood still for ten seconds or so, closed them and left shortly after. I was the only person in the platform and it stayed that way for a while.

It was a recruitment flyer for the Chaldea Security Organization.

A term instantly came to mind – The Incineration of the Human Order. When it did so, I realized _nothing would be fine._

Instantly, I took a photo of the number printed on it. I didn't dial it until half an hour later, when I was sure my nervousness and dread wouldn't show in my voice. 

* * *

A chime rang over the intercom and derailed my train of thought.

"Alphonse Newman, please report to the Director's office," Roman spoke with a tired voice, no doubt because of all the stuff he had been lumped with.

I sighed and took a deep breath, then released it as a yawn while stretching, hearing my muscles and bones give a satisfying_ crack_. Grabbing my khaki-green coat, I then headed out of my room.

To be entirely honest, I seriously regretted joining Chaldea. If I had just gone back home, then none of this would have been my business. Getting a faceful of a billion rays of light, each one equal to Excalibur in strength, tends to leave people quite indisposed to work. There were no guarantees that it would have been a painless death, but it would have been a quick one.

But of course, I was afraid of dying. And people generally stay away from things that kill them; so it was only natural that I would do what I could to get to the only place where I might be able to survive the coming apocalypse.

When I called, I asked about the requirements for joining up and the place where I would be handing over any necessary documents. The man who replied answered all of my questions cheerfully, saying that I would just need to show a currently valid ID, run through some tests, and get an interview over at their offices. It was "just a summer internship", like the flyer said, so there wouldn't be a need for too many formalities.

Under normal circumstances, I would have scoffed at how suspicious the whole thing was, but I just abandoned common sense and rushed over to see if I could land the job.

The testing was...mundane. Psych evaluation, questions about my reasons for joining, doping tests...it was all fairly normal, so much so that I was actually worried I was somehow wrong.

That all changed when I was commanded by the interviewer to go to sleep and I began to drift into unconsciousness. As I struggled to stay awake, he haughtily muttered something I couldn't quite hear.

I never thought I would feel glad to be subdued and mocked by someone.

Just before I delved too deep into memory lane, something caught my attention. A familiar mop of pink hair.

"Ah, Master." Mash stopped on her tracks and met my gaze meekly, seemingly unsure of what to say.

"'Sup, Mashu?" I called out to her with the affectionate nickname I took to using, all without breaking stride. "Heading towards the sickbay?"

A light blush colored her cheeks. "Umm...yes. Doctor Roman asked me to fetch some medical supplies."

"Reeeeally?" I asked with a teasing edge to my voice. "Just that? You're not going there for...any other reason?"

As the girl turned her face away from me in embarrassment, I chuckled.

"Now, now! It's not like it's a bad thing to visit a friend while they're in the hospital," I said while ruffling her hair a bit. "Matter of fact is, that's actually pretty nice of you. Having someone to talk to is always a good thing, Mashu. Unless you have video games or a book or anything to amuse yourself while bedridden, you'll be bored out of your skull!"

She nodded in agreement, but a small frown marred her face. The reason why she did began to crawl to the forefront of my mind, but I quickly quashed those thoughts by speaking up again.

"Anywho. Going to the Director's office right now. Any idea why? 'Cuz I'm pretty sure there's no reason for it."

The pinkette thought about it for a second before raising a finger. "Did you file in all the post-mission reports and documents?"

I grimaced in disgust. "What's the point in that, anyways?" I grumbled quietly and gave a defeated sigh. "No. I didn't."

"Well...it's quite important to keep track of what happened in each Singularity," Mash pointed out while she fidgeted a little bit. "We should follow protocol at all times."

"And I still say there's no point in doing useless paperwork," I replied while pinching my nose. "Everyone knows what happened. And where are those reports going anyways? The UN and the Mage's Association?"

"Master, they might be gone now, but once we resolve the Singularities we _will_ need to hand them over," the girl scolded me lightly

I let out an exasperated grunt, then breathed in through clenched teeth. "Fffffffffine, that's a fair point." I hung my head in defeat. "I don't get why I need to get bogged down with this, though. I can't really write a thorough report to save my life. I'd probably end up handing over a piece of paper with less than five hundred words on it. I wasn't supposed to be a Master in the first place, damn it!"

I saw Mash visibly flinch at my last words.

"Ah, damn...uh…"

I was left speechless. I wasn't being entirely serious about that, but I couldn't quite retract my statement or think of a way to appease Mash since I didn't know just what she found troubling about it.

I felt like a complete idiot.

The pinkette looked down with a miserable expression as she stopped walking. She opened her mouth to say something, but she didn't to externalize it.

"Erm...sorry." I scratched the back of my head while thinking of a way to get her to stop making that face.

"No. I should be the one apologizing," she affirmed with a dour air. "I wasn't fast enough, and because of that—"

"Stop. That wasn't your fault," I cut her off, a bit too strongly for my tastes. "You were caught off guard and even if you hadn't been, _I_ was the one who messed up."

"But I—!"

"Mash, I had it coming." She tried to protest at my words but I didn't let her. "If I had just kept my mouth shut, he wouldn't have attacked me. I pissed him off and…"

I frowned at the memory of the demonic mage piercing through me. Blood pouring out of my body as the overpowering sensation of unrestrained spite was being forcibly pumped into my brain.

"This was my fault. Period." My voice shook a bit at my own words. "I messed up and decided to learn from it. I'm taking everything seriously now."

She seemed to ignore my words in favor of blaming herself for my own idiotic mistake, but off in the distance I managed to spot the perfect excuse to divert her from that line of thought.

"C'mon, Mashu." I patted her shoulder and pointed at the door to the sickbay. "Chin up and smile. We're here already. You don't want to meet your 'Senpai' with a sad-looking face, right?"

My attempt at deflection was incredibly transparent, but even though the girl seemed to realize what I was doing, she relented and tried her best to wipe off her pained expression.

I bid goodbye to her, hearing a loud, chipper voice as the door to the sickbay opened. When I was left alone, I let out a loud sigh. She was seriously lacking in confidence, but I was sure that by the time the Third Singularity rolled around she would probably be as confident and reliable as she truly was.

As for myself, I could only hope I could deal with whatever came until I could get back to my actual job, demeaning as it was.

Eventually, I reached the Director's office. I took a deep breath and sighed, sliding my cardkey on the scanner next to the door. Nothing happened for a few seconds, until I was granted access.

And like that, I was left face to face with a white-haired woman. She scowled at me. Her gaze was incredibly intense, but it did little more than make me feel annoyance and a certain sense of resignation at what was to come.

After getting a lengthy dressing down from Olga which I only paid a token amount of attention to, she forced me to sit on an uncomfortable metal chair in the corner: I wouldn't leave until I handed over a report and she said it was good enough.

I shook my head, looking at the screen of the tiny computer she handed over. Breathing in once, I started typing away quietly.


	2. The Day the World Stood Still

A wet _splotch_ echoed through the room. Liquid leaked through the cracks of the ceramic tiles.

Up and down. Back and forth. My trusty tool scraped against the cold surface, leaving no spot untouched.

This was not a thing I took pleasure in doing but it was a necessary one. Displeased as I was, I always believed that no job was ignoble. Thus, I put in as much effort as I could into it. I gave my best.

But…

As I wrung the mop over the bucket, I sighed. "This sucks."

I was displeased with the sudden turn of events, yet I could do nothing about it. But all things considered, this was probably for the best. I didn't trust myself to do well as a Master, and I could shamelessly admit I was somewhat of a wimp.

Lifting my trusty tools and placing them on their respective places on my cleaning cart, I stepped out of the now spotless bathroom. The moment I did so, I saw a man I would have rather not met.

Sadly, I caught his eye as well, and he stopped on his tracks and turned to face me. "Ahh, good afternoon," he greeted me genially, leaning into a small bow while tipping his hat.

"Good afternoon," I replied while avoiding his gaze, giving a small nod in acknowledgement. Turning the cart towards the direction I was supposed to go next, I began to push, but before I could even take a full step he interjected.

"Would you happen to be Alphonse Newman?" the man in green asked cordially. "I've heard quite a lot about you."

My eyes wandered towards the floor. I did all that I could to stop myself from looking at his face.

"Ahh, the meek type, I see. Please, don't worry. You are not in any trouble," he reassured me with a big smile. "I'd simply like to have a small chat, as it were."

"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm not on break at the moment," I replied curtly, trying to get away from the wolf in sheep's clothing. "I need to go clean up Wing B."

"Wing B, you say? That just so happens to be on the way to where I'm headed." The man put his left hand on his hip. "That's quite convenient, wouldn't you say? Come now, I'd like to ask you a few questions."

Barely managing to restrain a sigh, I breathed in. Seeing no way out of the conversation, I spoke up. "Alright. And who am I talking to? I don't believe we've met before," I asked, despite already knowing the answer.

"Oh, my apologies! Where are my manners?" the man said sheepishly.

"I'm Lev Lainur, one of the technicians employed here."

* * *

The sharply dressed gentleman tried to make some small-talk with me for a while, trying to get me to warm up to him.

Instead he made me very uncomfortable. Even ignoring what he truly was and what his intentions were, I could say for certain that I didn't like him as a person. While he acted the part of the posh, kind gentleman, he was a complete creep; leaning a bit too close to me on more than one occasion and putting his hand firmly on my shoulder.

I really didn't want to hang out with him for any longer.

"Professor, if you don't mind me asking, why did you wish to talk with me?" I let the annoyance show in my voice without regard to his possible reaction.

"Ah, yes. I suppose I've delayed this long enough," he said with a hum. "I must say, you are very patient, humoring me for this long."

_Naaaaaaah, really?_

For all the time I spent speaking with him, I felt like I was about to shit myself. I didn't know what exactly I'd done to garner his attention, but the deeply unsettling feeling of having to deal with him got to me more than his inescrutable motive. Eventually however, my exasperation at having to deal with the man managed to exceeded my nervousness.

Seeing my disgruntled expression, the green clad man chuckled. "To be honest, I find the research team's findings _quite interesting,_" he began speaking without any fanfare. "Out of all the Master candidates, you have the highest aptitude for the use of Rayshift technology. It was even higher than that of the magi we personally selected. You caused quite the uproar, to be entirely honest."

"The memory is still fresh in my mind," I interjected. "My ears were ringing for hours after that."

"I must admit that I never expected Romani to take care of the situation as well as he did," Lev added thoughtfully. "I myself would have issued a gag order just as he did. Magi can be a little haughty, you see. Not all of them are as understanding as I am and more than a few would have been appalled at 'some commoner' being better than them."

That was putting it lightly, but I made no note of that. I at least wasn't strapped on a table and bisected at the moment, and that's all I cared about.

"It might be...quite rude of me to ask something like this," he noted while scratching his chin, "but were you experimented on at any point in time?"

"Laying it on a bit thick..." I muttered before sighing and speaking loudly. "I see what you're getting at, Professor Lainur. But as far as I know, I didn't come into contact with mages until I joined Chaldea."

"Magi. Singular: Magus," the man corrected, seemingly on reflex. "It was a question that needed to be asked, you see. From what I've heard, you grasped all the concepts we explained during basic training surprisingly well."

"I like that kind of stuff. Stories about magic are a something I enjoy checking out once in a while." The half-truth leaves my lips like butter sliding on a pan. "It's a lot of new concepts and things, but I can understand it with ease."

Lev nodded at my words. "I see. I'm certain you would have made a good Master."

What little joy I found in my deception instantly evaporated.

"Ah, do forgive me," he apologized when he noticed my grimace. "You did not take kindly to being reassigned, I forgot about that."

"No, it's fine," I quickly replied to his half-assed attempt at saying sorry. "I have a job and I will be paid. That's enough for me."

"There is no need to lie, lad," he offered. "I know how frustrating such things can be; I often found myself in similar circumstances in my youth. Please, if you need to vent, I am willing to hear your grievances."

Listening to him, it was hard to believe that he was possessed by a literal Demon of the Ars Goetia. Creepy habits aside, I could see how Olga could have seen him as a confidante.

Letting out a loud sigh, I decided to go along with his act. I really couldn't say anything that would bite me in the ass and there was only so much I could repress.

"It pisses me off a lot," I said bluntly. "This whole Servant thing isn't just interesting. It's _fascinating_."

"In what way?" Lev prodded at me, trying to get me to spill everything.

"Everyway. The explanation of the FATE summoning system is full of magibabble which went over my head, but it's some impressive stuff. That aside, the existence of 'Heroic Spirits' as a whole, and the fact that they can even be summoned is just—"

I cut myself off before I could run out of air. Taking a moment to myself, I collected my thoughts.

"Caesar. Francis Drake. King Arthur. Richard the Lionheart. Cu Chulainn. Moctezuma. Arash Kamangir...all those figures of myth and history could be summoned," I summarized everything as best as I could. "I could meet with them. Try to understand them on a deeper level than some history book would ever let me. Maybe befriend them, if things went well."

"The very idea boggles the mind," he continued for me.

"I didn't ask for a job because I wanted _that._" I grasped my head with my left hand. "But the second I had all the basic information about this whole thing, I jumped at the chance. It isn't exactly something that anyone can do." I slumped over my cleaning cart. "I've already resigned myself. I was angry about it but now I'm just disappointed...no, I guess depressed is a more accurate expression."

"It was the opportunity of the century...and it was ripped for completely arbitrary reasons." I slapped the side of the cart weakly. "Got kicked out of my quarters, had this thing handed to me, and was told to get to work. I didn't take it kindly, as you can imagine."

"I see..." The man looked at me with a thoughtful expression. "Don't fret, young man. Heroic Spirits come in all shapes and sizes; I'm all but certain that at least one of the summoned Servants will be the jovial sort who would spend time away with anyone they meet. You might still have a chance at it."

Letting out a sigh, I straightened up. "Maybe, but knowing my rotten luck I'd rather not get my hopes up," I said weakly.

Lev stopped walking suddenly. Looking at his face, I saw he was gazing intently at something down the corridor.

Turning to face the same direction, I saw her for the first time.

Pink hair. Glasses. A white zip up hoodie with gray sleeves. A red tie.

Mash Kyrielight in the flesh.

For a moment, I could do nothing but stare at her in awe. I didn't know what to say or if I even should have. Either way, the long silence was broken by the green clad man.

"It seems I have something to do," he said with a sigh. "Well then, it was nice talking to you, Newman. Please resume your duties."

I kept standing around, unsure of how to proceed, what to say, what to do. I decided to follow Lev's order and get moving.

Which meant getting closer to her.

I bit my lip for a second and walked forward, each step making my body tense up more and more.

How do you react when you meet someone who you know far better than most people they know, despite never meeting them before? When you meet someone earnest and kind who you could see yourself befriending, despite having no prior interactions?

I tried to filter out those thoughts. I wanted to sing something which I knew the lyrics to, but I knew I couldn't be so overt, not at the moment, so the idea was doomed to failure.

As I kept going down the corridor and Lev called out to Mash, I saw another person with her.

A girl wearing the Mystic Code assigned to all Masters. For women, at least, the ensemble consisted of long white boots, black tights, a miniskirt and a white coat with a belt and two straps, one above and one below her bust.

The most striking thing about her was her bright orange hair, held in a single pigtail on the left side of her head. Upon spotting her, my mind completely blanked out. I was barely able to keep a straight face as I continued on my way while the Magus chatted with the two girls.

When I was completely sure I was out of sight, having turned a couple corners, I started to run, not paying any mind to the water spilling from my bucket. My breathing turned heavy and I felt my heart beat so fast I thought it was going to burst from my chest and start trying to outrun me.

Once I was far enough, I locked myself into one of the janitorial closets. My teeth clattered as I hugged my knees, desperately trying to calm down but not managing it.

* * *

My state of mind at that moment was something that could be easily described as "a panic attack". The individual thoughts that I went through were too many, too varied and too disarrayed to properly act in any way.

I'll spare you the details and just go over the conclusions I came to after I managed to get my bearings. First of all, that Ihad to get my bearings quicklyin the first place. If I wasn't wrong, then I had about an hour until the orientation was over and the Rayshifting experiment began.

Or maybe it was an hour until it was over, giving me less time before the bombs went off. I wasn't too sure about my timeframe, but I had no time to waste.

Second was that I needed to get to a safe spot. As far as I knew, there were two bombs. One near the main generator and another in the command room. The safest place was Roman's favorite slacking spot, i.e. my old room, now most likely the orange haired girl's room. I knew the way, and by God I hoped I could reach it in time. I didn't know how far the damage extended, but I knew that I spent enough time shivering in fear. I couldn't stay like that.

I breathed out, trembling slightly. Wing B was definitely out of the way enough that I would probably survive if I headed there, but I really didn't want to leave it at _probably_, and started heading towards my old room. Each step I took was painfully tense; by the time I reached the spot where I started running, I was so strung up I was actually feeling sick.

Of course, my luck being what it was, that was the exact moment when I saw the Director of Chaldea herself.

"Hey you!" she called out rudely. "Where is Romani?"

I blanched when she spoke to me. I wasn't good at dealing with temperamental people when I was in a bad headspace. In any other circumstance, I would have dealt with her without any problem, but with the way things were, I wasn't able to reply quickly and let out a small squeak before composing myself.

"Huh!? Ah? D-Doctor Archaman?" I stumbled with my own words. "I haven't seen him."

Olga clicked her tongue and kept moving, giving me a wide berth. I had hoped that she would keep ignoring me, but she stopped and looked at me once more. When she focused on my face I turned away.

"I remember you. You were the one chatting with him a few days ago," she said with a small scowl.

"Yes," I admitted while remembering the specific moment she mentioned. I was cleaning the hallways next to the sickbay when I found the Doctor himself. Olga cut our conversation short when she found us out. "Last Thursday, actually."

"Well, do you know where he's gone off to?" she said, less as a question and more as a demand for an answer. "I just know you two have been slacking off together lately, so don't try to cover for him!"

I wasn't exactly able to question how she had found that out, but I honestly didn't doubt the Doc accidentally let that fact slip at one point.

"Give me a moment..." I looked down and rubbed my forehead with a hand, covering my face. "I think he mentioned a place...his hideaway…"

He was in my old room wasn't he? That was what I thought about saying, but I had no guarantee he was actually there. I arrived a while ago, so he changed slacking spots, but I did get kicked out of it and he had found out. I wasn't sure if he was there.

At that moment, I considered myself lucky for my bad habits when it came to social interaction. If it wasn't for my hand, she might have seen the shock on my face when I realized something.

Doctor Roman may or _may not_ have been in a safe area.

"Wait, he wasn't helping with the Rayshifting experiment!?" I blurted out without thinking.

"He was just making people slack off, so I kicked him out. But Lev insisted on recalling him to check a couple things and he's not answering" She bristled at my question and crossed her arms in irritation. "Now quit dodging the question!"

"He's most likely in Master Room 48. If he isn't there, then the infirmary," I answered quickly. "I can check the latter, just in case he's not in the former."

"Hmph, alright. Make yourself useful like that and tell him to head for the command center!" she demanded while her expression softened up the slightest bit. Turning around, she began walking away. "Do not make small talk with him, understood?"

"Yes, understood!" I called back. "I won't."

When she was out of my eyesight, I turned away and bolted. There was no time to waste, not even a second.

I bit my lip in anxiety. The Doctor might not be safe and that was something I couldn't afford under any circumstance. If he died in the incident, then Goetia would win instantly.

Without Romani Archaman, _Beast I was completely impossible to defeat._

My steps were all heavy and messy, hurting my feet because of how hard I was forcing them onto the ground. My breathing turned ragged and my left side hurt because I was breathing from my mouth as I went to my destination. I had to make sure he was alive. I had to make sure he _stayed_ that way. I had to make sure everything went as it should have.

Upon arrival, the automatic door slid open. Letting me take a good look at the inside of the room. Beds, cabinets with medical supplies, IV stands, machines of all kinds, curtains…

But no people.

I shivered at sight of the immaculate infirmary of Chaldea. There was no time. None whatsoever. I grasped at my head in frustration. For as easygoing as Roman was, he always kept to himself and didn't actually share any info on where to find him.

I leaned against a wall to catch my breath. My body screamed for me to stop exerting myself, to lay down and rest, to just take a break and then head back to my old room. But I knew better than to listen to it. What was a strained muscle compared to death?

Taking a step out of the room, I began trotting.

And was interrupted by a horrifying sound which made my eardrums tremble.

* * *

I coughed loudly and I wasted no time in unbuttoning my uniform and slipping my right hand out of it so that I could cover my mouth and nose with the sleeve. I just laid down on the floor, taking off my glasses and shutting my eyes as hard as I could; it stung, but I couldn't do anything other than wait.

After a while, when I thought the dust had cleared a bit I got on my knees and opened my eyes, wiping them because of the lingering pain and putting my glasses on again. I took in my surroundings as quickly as I could and let out a gasp at what I saw.

Further down the corridor, the path was blocked by rubble. A ways back, the doorframe of the infirmary was crushed to pieces by more debris. Looking between the two locations, the one I was heading towards and the one I came from, I felt an emotion start spreading from my chest to the rest of my body.

So I laughed.

I laughed at the situation before me. It wasn't because I was amused, not even one bit. No, I washysterical. My laughter was shaky and shrill, almost like an electronic toy while on its death throes.

If I had left any earlier I would have been crushed to death. If I had dallied any longer I would have been crushed to death. It was only by _sheer dumb luck_ that I had avoided being turned into paste.

I put my palms on the floor as I continued to guffaw uncontrollably, but eventually I breathed in some dust and started coughing instead.

The stress of the situation was too much for me. I was just some rando who had a decent life without high danger situations thrust into his face, so should that have been a surprise?

I couldn't quite reach a state of mind which could be considered anywhere near "calm", but I managed to get close enough to it to actually start trying to act.

The path towards my old room was blocked and so was the way to the command center, although the rubble on the latter was slightly...no, substantially less dense. The roof caved in for sure, but most of it was on the infirmary; there were some spots where I could see the other side of the hallway, and a lot of them were generously large too. As a matter of fact, right next to the wall was a large slab leaning against it and the floor and making a large triangular hole.

I wasn't sure of what to do though. I didn't want to push my luck and leave through there, but at the same time I wasn't sure if the roof above me would cave in. I wasn't sure what counted as standard procedure in my situation.

I thought about it and decided to stay right where I was until someone reached me. The second I made that choice, I heard a groaning sound above me, as if concrete was slowly cracking.

My previous thoughts were immediately shelved and I crawled under the rubble as fast as I could. Once on the other side, I heard a loud crash and saw a cloud of dust come out from where I came from. At this, I decided to run away as fast as my feet could carry me, deeper into the building and approaching the command room.

If I remembered correctly, it should be a straight shot there, provided there was no debris, so if I could make it there quickly, I would be able to get to safety.

Eventually, I reached a dead end. There was a corridor which circled around the command room, but both of the routes I could take to the exit were blocked off. I desperately looked around for any openings like the one from before, managing to spot an orange light through some of the cracks on one of the piles of rubble.

Taking a closer look, I noticed that the wall into the command room had actually been breached. I decided to take a gamble and try to move the rocks out of the way and dig my way inside the room. I had enough time, I believed as much.

My hands ached as I desperately moved the debris out of my way. I had to take a break midway through, but I made it in the end, making a big enough hole for me to crawl into.

Peeking into the inside of the room, I saw that the cavity was actually located a fair bit above ground level. Not enough to hurt myself badly if I fell, but I wouldn't be going back through that spot. It was fair enough for me, since I only wanted to get inside so I could leave through the main door.

I hesitated for a bit, but I eventually jumped down. I felt my whole body vibrate painfully when I hit the floor. Before I could have a moment of respite I heard the thing I least wanted to hear.

"Generator operation stopped. Power level critical An automated announcement rang out with a dull, monotone voice. "Switch to the backup generator. Error. Please make switch manually."

"No!" I screamed as I stumbled on my feet. If I ended up locked in here then I'd have to go to the Singularity, which was a risk I just couldn't afford taking.

The muscles on the back of my knees hurt, I attempted to run but only managed a trot. The exhaustion from before and the fall were bad enough to make a run impossible. I shut out everything around me as I made my way to the exit.

But by the time I was halfway there, it had closed down.

I got on all fours and laughed once again, this time much weaker than I had before.

"Warning all observation staff. Chaldeas' state has changed."

I ignored the announcement and got to my feet, looking around listlessly. It had taken me a while to register how hot the whole place was, which didn't come as a surprise, all things considered.

Above me, I could see a model of Earth. It glowed bright orange and red, as if it was the sun itself. That must have been Chaldeas, without a doubt. I had seen it before, when it was bright blue. The change it went through was incredibly discomforting.

Looking down, I spotted a person off in the distance, trapped underneath some rubble. I approached them slowly, taking deep breaths as I resigned myself to what was about to happen.

Once closer, I could distinguish the person as Mash herself. A pool of blood began to form underneath her.

"Ah...you're..." Mash seemed surprised at my presence here. She tried to say something else but I stopped her.

"Save your strength," I said weakly, pushing the rocks aside. It wasn't so much that I couldn't move it before the rayshift started. The pink haired girl kept quiet as I freed her, grunting in pain a couple times. She was losing a lot of blood.

Motes of light surrounded us both. It was starting.

"Could you…" Mash spoke hesitantly, looking aside with a sad expression before staring into my eyes. "Would you mind...holding my hand?"

I granted her request without thinking twice, even going so far as to hold her up with my other arm and wrap her in a hug.

In the end, the girl and I were the only things left in my perception. Everything else in the room vanished; the fire, the rubble, the voice of the system announcement, Chaldeas and all of the world.

Everything but her warm hand and her breaths disappeared. Nothing else was left. The existence of all else vanished entirely. The moment seemed to stretch into infinity as I felt something pull at my soul, my very being.

Time itself stretched as we approached the event horizon. A second for me was a second for the rest of reality, but this soon changed, being cut down by half into 0.5 seconds.

The world perceived 0.5 seconds, while I perceived a full second. This reduced time was further cut down into 0.25 seconds.

The world perceived 0.25 seconds, while I perceived a full second. This reduced time was further cut down into 0.125 seconds.

The world perceived 0.125 seconds, while I perceived a full second. This reduced time was further cut down into 0.0625 seconds.

0.0625 seconds turned to 0.03125.

0.03125 seconds turned to 0.015625.

0.015625 seconds turned to 0.0078125.

0.0078125 to 0.00390625.

0.00390625 to 0.001953125.

0.001953125 to 0.0009765625.

0.00048828125.

0.00024414062.

0.00012207031

0.00006103515

On and on and on.

_Ad infinitum._

* * *

I awoke to the smell of fresh dirt.

With a heave, I got on my knees. Looking ahead of me, I could see trees, stretching on for miles.

I coughed a couple times as I got to my feet. I was...in a forest of some kind. For some reason. I could only guess I had Rayshifted here...

I began to panic. The only forest that came to mind in Fuyuki was the one next to the Einzbern castle, which was just too far away from the city and dangerously close to the machine of death known as Berserker.

I looked all around me in fear, eventually looking directly behind me.

There, I saw a lake. The trees kept going around its shoes, encircling it completely. In the distance I could see smoke over the treeline, as well as an absolutely massive mountain.

"Where..."

I shook and fell on my knees for the third time that day.

"Where the hell am I...?"

* * *

**Yellowstone**

**The Sea of Wood and Flame**


	3. Third Option

I worriedly looked around as I approached the lakeside. Since it was night, I couldn't see anything that could threaten my life, magical or mundane. The features of the forest were hard to distinguish in the dark, but I was fairly sure there weren't any buildings or roads nearby, so there was absolutely nothing that I could use to orient myself.

Sitting down next to the shore, I took a deep breath and started thinking. I had absolutely no idea of where I was supposed to be. My first guess was the forest outside Einzbern Castle, but the lake before me eliminated that possibility.

Seeing the body of water, I then thought of it being close to...Ryudouijin Temple or whatever that place Medea bunkered down was called. I also discarded that option. Even ignoring the fact that the building was nowhere to be seen, the lake was just too goddamn big. I had never been to a lake, but I had the feeling that the one in Fuyuki wasn't so immense I would find myself reluctant to call it such.

Was I even in Fuyuki in the first place?

I spared a glance towards the massive mountain on the other side of the lake. As far as I knew, the city had only one mountain close to it, Mount Enzou, so the answer to my question was likely a big, fat no.

Getting to my feet and wiping the dirt off my butt, I walked around the shoreline. I grumbled aloud, spouting a couple profanities in Spanish while I did so. I was incredibly worried and stressed out, but after the adrenaline rollercoaster I had just experienced, I was more tired than anything else, so instead of scurrying around like a madman and screaming my head off, I just moved on resignedly.

An idea sprung to mind as walked. I checked the backs of my hands and lo and behold, tattooed in red on the left one was a strange emblem which resembled an eye.

Command Seals, fresh from the oven. I was a Master and while they asigned me to a completely different job, they still let me keep the red brands in the unlikely case I was needed; a silver lining in all this craziness.

The next course of action was clear to me. I raised my the hand into the air and focused; the sigil began to glow, illuminating everything around me and forcing me to shut my eyes.

"By my Command Seal, come for—!"

I stopped myself at the last second. Taking a look at the seals, I watched as the light faded from them, leaving them unchanged.

I sighed in relief. That wasn't a wise choice. I got the the basics drilled into my head during training: These seals were weaker than those from the original Grail War, but would replenish themselves over time. That was nice and all, but it would take 24 hours after use for that to happen, and I didn't think that my time in the Singularity would be so long, so it would be for the best if I saved them for when I truly needed them.

Sighing, I kept walking on. I spared a glance towards the far off mountain one last time. On the other side of the lake, close to the massive landform, columns of smoke rose at several different points. I guessed there was a fire deeper into the forest, but I couldn't exactly tell much more than that.

"What a mess..." I said tiredly.

After a while of aimless wandering, I managed to spot a warm orange light off in the distance deeper inside the forest. I approached carefully, making my way closer with the trees as cover.

Eventually, I spotted a building. It was a weird, cabin-like thing. The walls were made of piled stone while the roof was tiled and suspended over some logs. The style made it more obvious I was definitely not in Japan. The light came from a window. I couldn't quite see inside, so I got closer.

There were several glass display cases; I couldn't see their contents, but that wasn't important. What I focused on was movement; someone's shadow swaying back and forth, before completely disappearing.

I stayed in place waiting to see if whoever was inside would step out. It was probably better to assume they weren't friendly unless they were Mash. After some time, I grew bored and decided to stop crouching and start approaching.

"Hello?" a voice called out right behind me.

I yelped and fell on the ground in surprise. In response, I heard a startled cry. Still on the floor, I turned to face the one who caught me off guard.

At first, I couldn't distinguish them because of how dark everything was – but for a moment, the clouds in the sky drifted apart, making way for the light of the moon.

It was then that her figure was illuminated. It was the pink haired girl herself.

Though her posture was not firm like a knight, and I saw some hesitation in her eyes, there was something just incredibly beautiful about her that made me unable to do anything other than keep my mouth open and stare at her in awe.

We both kept still for a while. Her eyes were drawn towards my left hand, which held the command seals like a huge neon sign.

"Are you...my Master?" she asked.

My reply was firm.

"I am so lost right now."

* * *

It was a pretty awkward meeting, all things considered, but we couldn't afford to stumble around in conversation with how things were and we both knew it, though in different ways. We introduced ourselves and confirmed our status as Master and Servant. I hadn't seen Mash during basic training, but I quickly informed her that I went through it, so I understood what that meant, more or less.

However, the main problem we had wasn't in our roles, but in what we were supposed to do now. The good doc told her to look for for a leyline before the transmission got cut off, which was the reason she had come here, as it was supposedly smack dab in the center of the building.

We had to move a couple displays out of the way to make way for the summoning circle. That was all fine and dandy, but as we proceeded, we came face to face with the greatest enemy of all mankind, one perhaps even deadlier and more insidious than the Beasts themselves.

_Ignorance._

I rubbed my forehead while looking at our progress with the summoning circle we drew on the floor. At the center was Mash's shield, the main component and most important element of our setup. Aside from that, and the outline circling it, there was nothing else. Mash didn't know how to do it, and while the subject was covered in the last stages of basic training, I hadn't managed to memorize the pattern. I was able to manipulate my magical energy, so I could certainly place the magical circle, but I didn't know what it was supposed to look like beyond vague impressions.

So in the end, we ended up with a piece of junk that didn't work.

"_Hijo de su reputisima madre_," I growled quietly as I paced around the room.

"Um...calm down Master," Mash said while rubbing her left arm in nervousness. "There's no need to use profanity."

"Wait, you understood that?" I looked at her in embarrassment. "Ah, shi...fu...ugh. Sorry."

Scratching my head, I began to look around the building. She said this place was a museum, but also a visitor center, so I definitely should be able to find something…

"Mash, be honest with me. What are our options?" I asked while still searching for what I wanted. The girl didn't answer and instead grabbed hold of her shield, following me as I approached a door deeper into the building. She tried to find a way to start talking, but couldn't find one for a while.

Eventually, she answered.

"We don't have many, Master," she said grimly. "Our attempts at using the leylines haven't been successful, but we can still try some more. Aside from that, we could do some reconnaissance or try to gather intelligence on the cause of the distortion in some other way, though that would mean leaving the site."

I grunted in affirmation as I glanced at a door with a window on it. On the other side, I could see a small kitchen, and at the corner I saw a red fridge with a Coca-Cola logo on it.

"There we go," I murmured and went inside.

"Master? What are you doing?" Mash asked in confusion.

"Grabbing something to drink," I replied flatly while opening the fridge. Fortunately, there were many products besides Coke. "I'll be having Sprite, you?"

The pink haired girl blinked quietly and stared at me weirdly. My words were a complete non-sequitur to her, apparently. She took a long while to process my statement, simple as it was.

"Umm..." The girl fidgeted a bit, holding her right arm with her left. "Master?"

I pondered what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it. I didn't want to come across as flippant, so I had to give it some thought.

"The options. There's another one you didn't mention," I explained. "We can stay here and wait for communications to get restored on the other end."

"That's true, but wouldn't it be better to be more proactive?" she argued hesitantly.

"It would, but only if I was actually a competent Magus," I countered. "I am horribly unprepared for this. I don't even have a Mystic Code on me."

Breathing in, I looked aside for a moment before continuing.

"Look at it this way: it's like being stranded in the mountains during a snowstorm. If you don't know what you're doing, you're better off staying where you are instead of trying to get back to safety. That's our situation," I summed up. "Trying to set up the circle is just a waste of energy, Leaving might expose us to danger, and we'd have to get back to it in the end anyways. Better to stay here and defend our position."

Mash nodded, seeming to understand the logic to my words. I turned the glass bottle of lemon-lime flavored soda in my hand meaningfully, repeating my question non-verbally. She stayed quiet for a while.

"Soft drinks are bad for one's health, Master," she pointed out flatly.

"Everything is, Mash," I commented dryly. "As long as we don't chug two liters daily as though it was water, it's fine."

The silence resumed. No one said anything for a minute.

"What flavors are there?" she asked.

I smiled.

* * *

_Unbeknownst to the aberrant young man and Servant, the world did not stand still along with them. The flames continued their spread unimpeded, though their importance was minimal compared to the source of the distortion that caught the attention of the Chaldea Security Organization._

_Though the lapse in judgement was made, it could easily be forgiven. Even if they had intervened, the results would have been the same._

_Deep within the forest, two figures stood amidst the flames. A third lay on the floor; it was hardly a thing that could be considered human. Humanoid, perhaps, but no more than that. All of its features were obscured to the point that it was little more than a silhouette of a person, one wearing a long robe and displaying a long mane of hair. At several points of its body, whatever composed its flesh had collapsed, making it look as though the creature had melted._

_This being chuckled darkly and not long after, it began to dissipate, turning into fine dust particles that glimmered as they were blown away by the wind._

_The two that were left did not speak a word, not for a long time. But eventually, the man broke the silence._

_"I'm sorry...I have to go. If that man is here, then I must face him."_

_Though he muttered an apology, it was not entirely sincere. The woman knew this but didn't begrudge him._

_"It could be karma that brought the two of you together to this age," she mused, lowering her head. "If that is so, there's little I can do to stop you, Archer."_

_"You won't stop me?" he asked as he turned to face her._

_"I am fully aware nothing I do will deter you from this course of action," she said softly "I may have trouble dealing with these fractured creatures, but if it could help bring you peace, I see no problem in fighting them on my own."_

_"I see..."_

_In truth, the man felt thankful and perhaps a little guilty for his selfishness. His actions were unbefitting of someone who claimed the title of 'Hero', but if 'he' was truly here in this strange place…_

_There was no more need for thought. Muttering an apology once more, Archer left the woman alone as he headed westwards, to meet the man he could not abide._


	4. FUBAR

I greedily drank the last drops of my soft drink. I wanted another, but couldn't be assed to go get it, so I simply left the bottle on a windowsill and sat on the floor. Mash was standing nearby, not wanting to be caught unprepared in case anything happened, though she did grab a Fanta and was now midway through with it.

I gave a tired smile and sighed. I was safe with her, so I could afford to let my mind wander, though I would have preferred to just keep moving through the Singularity without giving any thought to anything that happened around me. It would have saved me from the nerves.

With nothing better to do, I decided to look over at my plans in the long term. Focusing on that seemed like it'd be better than worrying about what I could do or couldn't.

At one point, I'm sure I was welcoming the idea of not having to fight. Sure, being a janitor was a bit demeaning, but I liked the idea of not sticking my neck out; I could do without opening myself to being gutted like a fish by any number of things.

But much as I'd love the prospect, I'd have to fight. If I wanted to do that I would need to find a way to be less useless though. Mystic Codes could help bridge the gap a bit, for sure, but they could only do so much. Studying a magecraft was a definitive must, though I was doubtful I could do anything of note without being an absolute freak of nature or belonged to a line of distinguished magi. Fun fact: I was neither of those.

Maybe brushing up on myth and history would be actually kinda productive. I didn't know who I could end up meeting as a Servant, either on our side or as an enemy, so being able to piece together their True Name from clues they drop and know the gist of their story from it would be a good thing in the long run.

Getting up, I heard and felt my bones give a satisfying crack. Turning to face the window, I gave a sigh as I looked at the trees outside.

"A forest, huh…?" I muttered.

"Master?" Mash turned to face me as she caught onto my voice.

"Ahh, sorry. It's nothing," I responded sheepishly "I'm just kind of surprised we're in a forest. Especially one like Yellowstone."

"Really?" Her eyes widened in surprise. "Weren't you briefed when you were recruited, Master?"

"Just the bare bones of the operation." I shrugged and gave a sigh. "The future after 2018 suddenly disappeared, yadda yadda yadda, an unobservable zone in time that might be the cause...yeah, I didn't get told it'd be here..."

"I...I see," The pink haired girl replied with her head down. "Umm...have you been to a forest before?"

"I have, actually," I answered as I scratched the back of my head. "Not as often as I'd have wanted to, and it's been literal years since then, but..."

"What was it like?" She asked.

"Like, as a whole? I never delved deep into it, just stayed near a certain area," I replied bluntly. "I got no worthwhile experience when it comes to navigating around one, I would have probably led us around in circles or something equally stupid if we had left."

Mash kept quiet at that. I wondered if I had said something wrong, but I couldn't tell. Not feeling brave enough to press the issue, I simply sat down once more, waiting for communications to be restored.

And wait we did. After a long while, I went for another bottle and shortly after I came back, I heard some a crackling sound.

A couple meters away from us, the air was tinted blue and an image began to form. Chaldea's logo came into view, although it was blurred and distorted by static.

"Is this it?" I asked the girl and received a nod in response, so I left the unopened soft drink next to the empty bottle.

After a bit, the image came into focus and was then replaced by a projection of two people. Doctor Roman and Director Olga, both completely unharmed.

I let out a sigh of relief at their sight.

"Doc Roman, Director," I said. "Thank goodness you're alive."

"You!" Olga practically screeched, making me step back. "Why are you there?!"

I waited for a bit to see if anyone interjected, but seeing how no one did, I replied with a sigh. "Bad luck, poor choices, coincidence, poorer life choices..." I listed off. "It's a long story, can we save this for later?"

Before the albino could snap back at me, Roman cut in. "Umm, that might be a good idea. You haven't set up the summoning circle from what I can see."

"We couldn't set it correctly," Mash answered. "We will need help for it."

Olga stopped and looked at the mess I had made on the floor. She grimaced in outright disgust.

"What the hell is this?" She asked with narrowed eyes

"Shit, from the way you're looking at it," I deadpanned as I rolled my eyes. "Can you _please _help us make it not-shit?"

"Alright, you neophyte!" she yelled in exasperation. "Start by cleaning up this travesty you call a circle!"

"Kaaaaaaaay," I drawled. "Lemme get a mop, I saw one in the kitchen."

The woman was clearly annoyed by my response but refrained from giving a reply, so I went to the kitchen and returned with a wet mop and some rags. Mash couldn't help but look a bit worried because of my personality clashing with the Director's.

As I began to wipe the floor, I spoke up. "What should I use to set up the new circle, by the way?"

Olga considered the question and looked around the room. If there was something useful, I didn't know enough to pick it out. The display cases only had desiccated animal corpses, so it wasn't like we could use their blood or something. Eventually her eyes settled on the Sprite I left on the windowsill.

I braced myself for a derisive comment, breathed in and closed my eyes.

"Use that soft drink," She answered.

What she said instead floored me completely, the betrayal of my expectations was so hard I actually flinched.

"What." I said flatly.

"You heard me!" She snapped at me. "It's not like you have better materials over there, so we'll have to set it twice. First to send something to make a stable circle, then the real deal."

"Alright, but why that instead of water?" I asked.

"The extra sodium makes it a better material than plain water," Roman answered for her, trying to defuse the situation.

"Alright, got it."

I was hardly an expert on the mechanics of magic, so I just accepted the fact without fighting back. The Director shook her head and sighed.

"I can't believe I'm having a complete novice jury-rig a summoning circle with lime-lemon soda during this historical operation," she lamented.

"That's just going to be an absolute _joy_ to write in our report for the Clocktower, isn't it?" I shot back.

The look of dawning realization on her face made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Shaking my head, I went back to work.

I am such a horrible person.

* * *

After a good while of messing around, getting snapped at by Olga and encouraged by Roman, I managed to complete the first circle, which allowed the Chaldea staff to send in some magically enchanted chalk. I didn't bother asking what made it special, if it worked, that was good enough for me.

And work it did, the projection gained color and their voices could be heard clearly, almost as if they were right in front of us.

That's when the Director decided to cash in the rain check on my answer regarding why I was here. I didn't want to remember my close brushes with death, so I skimmed over the events and quickly stated the facts. When she asked why I went inside the command room, I blamed it on blind panic and hysteria. The saddest thing was that it wasn't far from the truth.

Then came the time for her to explain the situation on her end. I knew everything was fucked, but I couldn't help but feel shaken by the information because of one simple reason.

_It was worse than I expected. _Main generator? Busted. Medical supplies? Buried under rubble. Food both in the canteen and as MREs? Burnt to cinders. Senior staff and everyone of higher rank than Roman except Olga? _Dead as shit_.

Master Candidates? Turned into popsicles until further notice.

Mash's face was twisted in abject horror, tears streaming down her face as Doctor Roman mentioned the current state of _one_ specific Master; Fujimaru Ritsuka.

Four fractured ribs, broken femur, dislocated left shoulder, right arm completely pulped and several first and second degree burns.

I felt bile rising up my throat as Roman listed the numerous wounds. Out of all the wounded Masters, _she was the one that got off easy._

I asked Roman to spare us from the rest of the details, a request which he granted without complaint.

"Fuck…"

I slid from my sitting position and put a hand to my face, gripping my head weakly. All the new information didn't bode well for several reasons.

"So what do we do?" I asked while shaking my head. "What _can _we do?"

"I'm giving it some thought myself," the Director replied with a scowl. "This was a massive blow to Chaldea, both in terms of resources as well as credibility. The Association was opposed to this operation in the first place, so unless we give them results of any kind, they will use this...incident as leverage against me."

"I heard that a lot of the Magi were important nobles," I noted dryly. "You'll need some _impressive _results."

"Don't talk like it's got nothing to do with you!" she growled. "All of my Masters are either dead or close enough they might as well be, so as much as it pains me to say this, _you_ are the only one we can send in."

I gave a long, loud sigh. "Roger, roger," I said lazily. "I take it the 'result' we need to give is the destruction of this distortion?"

"That...might be a bit too much to ask for," the Doctor interjected "We don't know much about the situation there."

Olga considered our words carefully, putting a hand to her chin and lowering her head.

"What was your name? Newman?" she asked while staring at me, continuing after I confirmed that with my full name. "Doctor Roman is right, you are too inexperienced to handle this on your own, but you yourself said it; I'll need to provide stellar results if Chaldea is to receive any more support, let alone survive all the backlash we'll get once we check in."

She took a bit more time to mull it over, before crossing her arms and giving a sigh of her own.

"We will continue repairs of Chaldea's installations and equipment with our currently available resources," she declared resolutely while staring into my eyes. "In the meantime, you will be working as Master Candidate 49. Your mission objectives are as follows: First, investigate the source of the distortion to the best of your ability. Second, acquire supplies. Third, set the groundwork for a larger operation by eliminating potential threats and scouting locations aside from this one which we could use as forward operating bases. Understood?"

While it was hard to meet her gaze, I tried my best. "Understood," I affirmed. "Where do we start?"

"For now, it'd be best if you summoned another Servant. We'll need all the manpower we can get." She crossed her arms and turned to face the Doctor. "Romani, I'm going to get some things from my office, you're in charge until I come back."

"Eh! What?!" he yelled in shock, turning to face her even as she left the line of sight of our projection and probably the room.

"Don't worry doc, just do your best!" I encouraged him "Umm..."

For a moment, I thought of doing something...stupid. My desire to be serious began to clash with the one to give support to the fluffy haired man, but the later won out in the end. It was better to strike while the iron was hot than to wait it out and make it more awkward.

"G-ganbare, Romani!" I yelled while raising both arms in cheer.

Everyone was completely silent. I somehow felt Mash's stare drill a hole in my back out of sheer embarrassment.

"Ahh, I guess I will..." Before I could fully regret my action, I saw the Doctor chuckle and smile, making it all worth it.

After this, he began to instruct me in how to summon a Servant. Thanks to the way the system worked, there was no need for an elaborate chant about "silver and seel, the archduke of contracts", "filling and shutting" or "all virtues of heaven". All that chuuni stuff was unnecessary; Chaldea and the leyline we were siphoning would do the heavy lifting for me, all I needed to do was to feed some of my own prana into the circle and focus on the idea of calling for a Servant.

The FATE system was basically a megaphone directed at the Throne of Heroes, using it meant turning it on and saying "Hey, I need a bit of help here. Y'all mind giving me a hand?" and hoping that someone answered the call. I was sure someone would chew me out if they heard my overly blunt and simplified explanation, but it worked well enough for me.

I took a deep breaths as I knelt down in front of the circle, touching the edge with my palms.

I had my Magic Circuits activated and trained during basic training, and thanks to that I could "switch them on and off" with a mental command. The problem was that said command was unpleasant, to say the least.

If I recalled correctly, Rin felt like she was being cut to pieces or stabbed through the heart, while Shirou felt like a gun was cocking right next to his head, so it wasn't like I was alone in that regard. I'd just have to learn to deal with it.

I breathed in one last time.

"Wake up."

I felt as if something foreign crawled from my torso through my veins, eventually reaching my palms. A soft green glow lit up the path on my skin where the magical energy flowed.

At that moment, I could feel it; the sensation of something coarse wrapping around my neck. I heard the sound of the material as it slid across itself. I clenched my teeth as I felt the thing tense up, firmly grasping me.

Then,_ the floor vanished_.

_A loud snap reached my ears as I felt my own weight causing me to fall. The rope dug into my flesh, crushing my throat but outright not killing me. I felt the air inside my body stagnate as I was asphyxiated to death. _

_Slowly, but surely. Insidiously. Certainly. _

The pain increased manyfold. I let out a bellow as my Magic Circuits thrummed with power. The light from my arms became a mere flicker compared to the grand beacon that the summoning circle had turned into.

At that moment, there was an explosion of smoke, blanketing the entire room.

No longer able to stand the sensation, I turned my Circuits off and coughed vigorously as I reached for my neck. I was unhurt, but I still felt like I had rope burns and it was difficult for me to breath in.

After a bit, I heard the clicking of heels and metal close by. Someone approached me, but I couldn't see them.

A hand reached out to touch my back and at the same time, the pain began to subside bit by bit, until it faded entirely from my mind.

"Are you feeling better, Master?" a woman spoke. Her voice seemed familiar, but I couldn't quite figure out who it belonged to.

The smoke began to clear out, so I turned to face the one who talked to me.

Gorgeous was the first word that came to mind when I laid eyes on her. Though she was scantily-clad, it didn't feel like she was improper in any way, shape or form. In her right hand, she held a cross shaped staff. The object seemed to have a hefty weight to it, but she carried it with ease.

I didn't find myself able to respond to the purple haired beauty in front of me, so I just nodded. She took a couple steps back and offered her hand to help me to my feet, which I took.

Once I rose to my full height I noticed she was actually pretty small, although it might have been just my own size that gave me that impression.

"I am Martha, just Martha." The saint that subdued the mighty Tarasque gave a small curtsey. "Let us save the world."

The woman smiled in a way that took my breath away.


	5. A Study in Terror

Crime was always a subject I was iffy on. I always wondered if I would resort to it if I was desperate enough or if I'd try to stay in the straight and narrow. Still, every time the question popped up I thought that, if I could get away with it and it helped me overcome whatever drove me to that point, I'd go ahead and do whatever needed to be done.

It turned out I was right. I was quite unrepentant about it, too.

After the summoning, Doctor Roman directed us towards the Fishing Bridge General Store. There were several shelves full of groceries and camping supplies that we could take to help sustain ourselves and explore the Singularity until help came, and among the massive selection of souvenirs, there were all kinds of things that would make the wait easier on us. Clothes, blankets and such.

Thus we began to raid the shop. Mash and Martha were reluctant, but got to work in the end, finding some boxes and filling them what they could. Meanwhile I changed out of my janitor's uniform. It chafed and itched, so it was natural that I'd just toss it aside at the first opportunity.

Once done, I joined the two Servants in the looting. When we had filled out 4 boxes with a varied assortment of items, Roman asked us to head back to the visitor center to send the supplies to Chaldea, but I insisted on getting more things, arguing that it was better to have an excess of supplies than a shortage of them. Roman was a bit unsure, but accepted my logic in the end.

Best to harvest all that we could from the Singularity before we tore it down and locked ourselves out of those supplies.

Once we emptied the shop of anything that wasn't nailed down or useless to us, we stood outside with a large pile of boxes; two stacks nearly as big as I was.

"You know, I wasn't thinking about it when we started, but…where is everyone?" I inquired while looking back at the store's counter. "Sure, it's late at night, but the lights were on when we came in, and there's a lot of cars parked outside, so you'd think we'd see at least _one_ person."

"I'm also curious about that, actually. We haven't detected any signs of life in your vicinity," Roman's disembodied voice noted as I walked around the lot. "It's like people just vanished all of a sudden."

"'Vanished' sounds about right, actually…" I affirmed after looking inside a van with a window wide open. "No one just leaves their car with the keys in the ignition and the locks off."

I shook my head and reached for the keys.

"We can ruminate on that later, though," I continued while heading towards the back to open the trunk. "The sooner we get back to the visitor center and send these supplies, the better. Best not to think too hard about it."

Seeing what I was doing, Mash grabbed some of the boxes and approached. Martha did the same, but she stared at me disapprovingly, making me feel a pang of guilt for the first time during this whole thing.

I wondered if she would take the fact that I'd have her drive badly.

* * *

Fortunately, she didn't complain about it. She didn't even comment on it, as a matter of fact, and instead she chose to remain silent. I wanted to talk to her and try to apologize, but I honestly couldn't do anything other than try to justify myself, so I opted to keep quiet as well. And of course, Mash wasn't exactly sure of what to say in this situation, so she didn't speak either.

All in all, the atmosphere was really awkward and there was little I could do to change that. I had already tried to turn on the radio, but we only got white noise. I didn't know if it was because I was dumb and Yellowstone didn't have reception or if there was a more nefarious reason for this, but I refrained from asking.

For me at least, awkwardness didn't take long to turn to anxiety.

All of a sudden, a feeling of unease ran through me. It came without warning, forcing me to grip the armrests on my seat so hard my knuckles went pale as my fight or flight instincts ran haywire. Out in the distance, in the middle of the road I saw a strange figure; it was large and bulky, its enormous arms almost like a gorilla's. Two gleaming lights shifted menacingly, I knew these were the creature's eyes because I was grasped by an almost primal sensation of dread, as though a predator had found me.

"Everyone get on your toes, we're detecting something!" Roman yelled. "This response...it's like a Servant, but something's different!"

As we drew closer, Martha slowed down the van, intent on leaving to fight. At that moment, the monstrosity threw back its head and let out a mighty howl, announcing its presence to the whole world.

In that position I was able to take in all of its other features, such as its unfurled wings, the numerous crooked horns on its head and the muscular tail behind it.

A word came unbidden by me in a yell of horror. The bestial form before us...it was without a single smidgeon of doubt…

"A Demon!"

It was then that Martha put the pedal to the metal.

The van accelerated at an incredible speed that forced me to lay my back into the seat and judging by the yelp from the back, Mash was also in the same position.

In less than two seconds we were in front of the impossible beast.

The whole vehicle shook as we crashed into the monster. The impact against it wasn't enough to halt our advance and instead lifted the creature off the ground and over the car, cracking the windshield along the way.

Martha slowed down as she took a deep breath with her eyes closed; the anger on her face was easy to see, and so was the fact that she was trying her hardest to reign it in.

Lowering the window on my side, I looked back at the horror-turned-roadkill and saw it slowly dissipate as if it was smoke.

"It's dead, the signature is gone," Roman said flatly. "Umm...I really don't know what it was, though."

"Yeah?" I replied weakly. "I mean...yeah, I got nothing."

"Ah, wait, I don't think it's over yet!" The doc alerted us. "We're getting signs of magical energy to your right, off the road. They're too far away to properly pinpoint if it's anything like that thing, but you should stay on guard even so!"

I grunted noncommittally, trying to properly process the shift in the mood. I cast one more look at the saint and saw she now had a completely neutral expression, with her eyes closed and lips pressed into thin line.

"O...kay. Do we investigate? I'd rather go and do that now to avoid getting snuck up on," I supplied while taking off my glasses and rubbing my eyes.

"That might be a good idea, Master." Martha nodded in agreement. "Ignoring this would be remiss of us."

"Shouldn't we secure the supplies first, though?" Mash questioned. "Director Olga ordered us to focus on that and finding out the source of the distortion."

"She didn't give any orders about hostiles, though," I pointed out. "I think that gives us carte blanche right now."

"I'm with Alphonse on this one. It'd be disastrous if you got attacked while carrying all the things you requisitioned already," Roman supplied. "That being said...be careful, alright? If things look bad, run away immediately, got it?"

"Aye, aye. Got it, got it," I droned and turned to the purple haired lady. "Martha, you said you mainly fight at range, right?"

"That is correct, Master," she replied with a small pause. "However, I am unable to attack from very far like an Archer could, so please keep this in mind if we encounter a Servant of such a class."

"I hope we don't," I sighed. "I _seriously_ hope we don't."

* * *

We delved into the forest in a single file, with Mash at the front, Martha at the rear and me between them. Although the approach was full of tension, I at least had two Servants protecting me, and the fact began to feel all the more reassuring.

However, the air grew uneasy when we heard a loud booming noise.

"This is bad..." Roman spoke quietly. "We're seeing more things like the one from before, whole dozens of them."

"Aw, shit," I muttered. "Can they see us too?"

"As long as you do not let your presence be known, you should be alright, but even so, be very careful," the doc answered. "Judging from the one you met, these things are pretty weak, but you could get overwhelmed by their sheer numbers so try not to engage them,"

Nodding at his words, we silently continued to trek deeper inside, approaching on an incline. As we climbed up we heard more loud sounds; sometimes it was an explosion, others it was the inhuman howls of the demon-like creatures. Mash and I were deeply disturbed when we heard a whole chorus of roaring monsters, while Martha's expression hardened.

When we were nearly at the top, Roman spoke up again.

"Wait a sec, there's a—!"

At that moment, we heard the beasts scream once more, but this time in pain.

"Servant! There's a Servant up there!" he yelled. "They're engaging those things and killing them in droves!"

"What!?" I hissed. "How? Why didn't you say so sooner!?"

"They must have been fighting at the edge of our range!" he defended himself. "Either way, those demon things are heading towards the Servant, so now's your chance to get closer and observe while they're distracted!"

Wasting no time, we walked on. The treeline stopped a bit further from the top of the incline, but even from the edge, we could see a battle raging on, however, I couldn't make out the details.

Hiding between the trees, I took out a pair of binoculars I'd pulled from the looted supplies earlier and peered through them.

Several of the demons were killed with extreme efficiency, arrows firmly lodged on their heads and bodies vanishing as they fell to the ground. Although I was able to pinpoint the shooter's location, I couldn't catch a good enough glimpse of them to figure out their identity as they darted around the battlefield at incredible speeds. The only thing I could see was an orange blur.

Though they were monsters, the creatures were well coordinated, attempting to surround the Servant and attacking one after the other. Despite this, they were shot down one after the other.

After a few moments, there was a lull in the battle. The Servant stopped moving, allowing me to take a good look at them. A petite girl, possibly no older than Mash. Her orange hair was done in a pair of long pigtails that reached down to her thighs and she wore little aside from what could only be described as lingerie and a pair of long gauntlets. Recognition didn't take long to set in, though it took me a moment to fully process the fact and draw out her name from my memory.

At first I thought of her husband...but seeing her clothing and bow, there was no doubt she was Sita, Rama's wife.

Despite how well she was fighting, I could tell by her posture and heavy breathing that she was having difficulties. She was killing the demons with ease, but even so there were tons of them and more were showing up all the time.

"I think we should help out that Servant," I spoke aloud.

"W-wait a moment! That's too dangerous!" Romani yelled out. "You should run away while you still have the chance!"

"We need as much help as we can get here, we'd be passing up the chance to get an ally if we did," I countered. "How many of those things are there?"

"Fifty fou—" He was interrupted by the Archer resuming combat and continuing to fire off arrow after arrow. "Forty nine, but that's still—!"

"With how weak they are, we can take them on," Martha cut him off heatedly. "I'm certain of it."

"Eh!? But how are you going to go about this!? There's so many of them!"

I pushed my glasses up and pinched the bridge of my nose. The Doctor was right about them having a numerical advantage, and since they were so coordinated, it wouldn't surprise me if they could see that I'm a Master and try to kill me first.

As I thought about our course of action, a plan began to form. Although it was probably...no, definitely not the best one, I didn't have enough time to think of a better one.

"I have an idea. Help me hash it out as quickly as possibly," I declared, looking at both of my Servants. Martha was clearly angered and eager to fight off the demons while Mash seemed somewhat hesitant but eventually nodded and waited to hear what I had to say.

"Alright, here's what we're gonna do..."


	6. Devil May Die

Dread welled up inside Sita's heart with every passing second. As the battle dragged on, she couldn't help but think that this would most likely be the end of her.

At first, she thought it'd be a complicated battle, but not one with insurmountable odds. It certainly seemed that way as she decimated her enemies. Their numbers did nothing to help them as the Archer dispatched them with ease; were it not for their efforts to kill her and their nature as Demons, she might have felt guilty for slaying them.

However, for each of the monsters she downed, there was always another to take its place. Weak as they were, there was no shortage of them; not to mention that their lack of strength was made up for by persistence and cunning.

Though she was not wounded, the monsters had chosen to attack her constantly, leaving her with as little breathing room as possible. As soon as one had finished swinging one of their massive fists in her direction, there was another attack well on its way towards her, and as soon as that one was avoided, yet another came her way, then another, and another, and another in a maddened dance where the only way she could rest was by killing several of them at the same time, giving her only a sparse few seconds before she was forced to keep moving.

This had gone on for so long that she was exhausted by now. With this in mind, it was quite obvious to her that she would fail in some way soon enough. She was surely not going to survive this battle despite her best efforts.

The thought of falling without fulfilling her promise to defeat all of the shades all on her own saddened her greatly. Though she didn't want to meet such an ignoble death, she slowly began to resign herself to the fate that awaited her.

Sita flung herself backwards as an enormous hand sailed past the place where her head was, narrowly missing her.

While she was certainly losing hope in her situation, that did not mean she'd lay down the bow she carried and grant the demons their victory.

One of the creatures reached out for her hair, but with a slight movement she pressed the bottom tip of her weapon into its outstretched palm. She threw back the offending arm with an immensely disproportionate amount of strength, and a loud, sickening squelch echoed across the battlefield.

Wincing at the noise, she leapt back again and again. Three arrows materialized from thin air right in the middle of the space between the fingers of her offhand. A cacophony of howling laughter rang in the air as her enemies charged forward.

As the wave of muscles, horns and wings rapidly approached, Sita took a deep breath and nocked one of the projectiles. This was certainly not what she wanted, but she didn't feel a single pang of regret. There were certainly many things she would have liked to do, but her choice to act on her own was not one she felt any shame in having taken.

Pulling back the string, she faced the demon leading the pack with a stern, determined expression. If this was to be her end, she would accept it; but she wouldn't allow herself to simply vanish without at least trying to make a difference, however small.

And it was into that resolute moment that a sound reverberated, reaching the ears of both the Archer class Servant and the demons simultaneously. Namely, the sound of an explosion.

The first to turn and face towards it was the fiend at the front, and seeing how none of the others took the opportunity to attack her, she herself spared a glance at the source as well.

At first, there was nothing to see but a thin veil of dust and some torn-up soil. However, a flicker of motion drew her eyes towards something else far off in the distance, right next to the treeline on the other side of the battlefield.

Three people. A woman with a cross-shaped staff, a girl with a large shield and a man who seemed taller than both, yet stood bent down to remain covered by the slab of metal.

Their reasons for interrupting the battle were unknown, but the demons clearly did not take kindly to their interference. With a growl, six of the demons broke off from the formation and charged towards the interlopers.

She couldn't know with absolute sureness, but she thought it was likely these people were here to help her. She thanked them internally and focused once more with the task at hand.

Before her enemies could react, she pulled the bowstring further back and loosed an arrow. The air snapped loudly as the projectile made its way through several demons before slamming into the the ground several dozen meters behind their ranks. Before she could confirm the results of her attack, her enemies began moving to engage.

The Archer turned and ran the other way. She knew she couldn't avoid them forever and they'd catch up, but if she could just manage to survive a bit longer, she'd stand a better chance at living through this ordeal.

_Dodge!_

Something inside her screamed at her to move. Following her instinct, Sita dived forward, firing an arrow as she flipped in midair. It landed squarely in a demon's throat, and its form stumbled forward into the space she had occupied only a scant few moments ago.

For them to catch up to her so quickly was worrisome to say the least. Could it be that she was more tired than she had initially thought? Or was it something else? Could the demons have been merely toying with her thus far? The possibility was a harrowing yet likely one, and at the thought of it a chill ran down her spine.

The chase resumed in earnest at that moment. Occasionally, Sita had to avoid more attacks, only returning fire three more times when the chance presented itself. Sparing a glance at the strangers, she saw that they'd managed to deal with the demons and begun advancing on her position.

It was then that she noticed a problem: they were further away from her than when they joined the fray. Realizing that she'd been tricked into distancing herself from them by their common enemy, she scrambled to think of a course of action.

An idea sprung to her mind in a flash. It was an outlandish thought, enough that she couldn't help but let confusion seep into her face, but options were something she was sorely lacking in.

Sita tried to head to the right of her route, towards the edge of the forest. Though she was followed closely by the demons, she did her best to run faster and take control of the situation. Once in front of a tree, she jumped upwards with a grunt, slamming her feet against the rough bark near the top.

The demons leading the charge halted only a couple meters away from the trunk, realizing that she was planning something, but by then it was too late. She sprang off the tree, moving over them in an arc as she nocked the last arrow.

The congregation was spread out further than she would have liked, but it would have to do. At the apex of her leap, the arrowhead suddenly glowed a bright orange.

And she released it.

A bright streak tore the sky and impacted the ground in a fraction of a second. The air around that point was lit ablaze as a tremendous explosion rang out and engulfed the immediate area around in fire, searing away the grass and demons within its range and badly burning those outside.

She hadn't managed to take down many of them, but she had disoriented them enough to give her an opening to run towards the intervening party.

To her surprise, however, the monsters were already gaining on her halfway though. And as much as she wanted to push herself harder, she was already at her limit.

She prepared more arrows and turned around, but one of the towering brutes grasped her arm, forcing her to drop them as she let out a yelp of pain. She poked its pectorals with her bow in retribution, instantly caving in its chest with incredible ease.

Although it let go of her, she was already surrounded by more of the creatures. One seized her left leg, which she countered by slamming the bow into its wrist, but then another pulled on her hair. She struck the offending demon on the head, but she was left off balance, which allowed a third one to tackle her into the ground. She weakly hit its hip, and while it recoiled in pain, it still pinned her down to the ground as a fourth stepped forth and stopped her from doing anything else by slamming its foot into her arm.

It was terribly painful, but she refused to let go of the bow. Even immobilized, she struggled to do whatever she could, but right now, she was helpless.

Her allies were too far away to intervene and the demons knew it. They saw an opportunity to end things there and then and they took it, a fifth monster standing behind her, raised its fists over her head.

Despite this, Sita felt completely at ease. She didn't know why exactly, but she thought something would happen. Her expectations were not betrayed as a bright, yet gentle light coalesced between her and the demons. It was not intense enough to blind her, but the demons seemed to seize up at the sight.

It was at that moment that the tide turned.

No heat, no air and no pain assaulted her, but she heard a loud booming sound directly in front of her, one loud enough that only a deaf man would not perceive it, yet not so intense it could rupture her eardrums. At this thunderous noise the demons surrounding her were tormented by some unknown force, spasming and being thrown back as if something had exploded in front of them. Not a single one hit the ground though, as they vanished like dust being blown away.

There was a moment of pause among the monstrous horde, and then as one they turned to face the interlopers.

With a feral growl, all of the monstrous creatures charged towards them, spreading out their formation as much as they could. The two Servants stood resolutely, preparing themselves for the incoming wave. Unlike them, the man was quivering, taking a step back and clenching his fists.

As the demons approached the party, the purple haired woman was already fighting back, moving her hand across the surface of the staff as she pointed it towards one of the monsters, which burst apart and vanished just as the previous ones had done.

Though what Sita wanted was to rest, she couldn't help but worry about those people. The man was quite possibly a Master, and if the demons took him down, the other two would most likely follow suit.

She couldn't sit and do nothing. Even if it meant pushing herself harder, she had to return the favor as soon as possible.

Sita ran as fast as she could, moving parallel to the route the demons took. At a push of her will, three arrows formed in her hand, ready to be nocked and fired at a moment's notice. By now, another of the demons had been taken out, but they were almost upon the interlopers and she didn't know if they would be overrun by the creatures.

That was something she would not permit.

Still in motion, she fired an arrow straight into the path a demon was taking, striking it dead. She repeated this action with little pause, monstrous corpses toppling to the ground again and again, but they were not deterred. They had a course of action, and they were committed to it.

The monsters ran even faster, and though another had been killed by a blast, the first wave finally reached the interlopers. The girl with the shield met them head on, handling the slab of metal gracefully despite its prodigious size and slamming the bottom edge into a demon's head, following up with a swing to an incoming enemy. Another saw the chance to attack the Servant with the staff to try and incapacitate her, but it soon found its chest deformed when she thrust the implement forward, hurling it backwards with a whimpering wail.

And yet, more came. Massive frames hurled themselves in a desperate attempt to take down the ones who had interrupted them. While the two Servants were occupied, a demon tried to reach for the man; it soon found itself with an arrow stuck sideways through its head courtesy of Sita, who prepared yet more projectiles, intent on sniping any who tried something like that again.

It didn't take long for the battle to approach a clear conclusion. When there were only six monsters left, three of the demons broke off and began to run away in different directions. The remaining ones harassed the group, fighting defensively. One stayed just barely out of reach of the shield wielding Servant, and the other two just barely dodged the purple haired woman's attacks, trying to take a swing at her when she looked like she wanted to do whatever caused the explosions of force.

Sita knew leaving the demons alone would hardly be a sane idea. So she took a deep breath and brought the bow to its full draw, firing off an arrow that reached a fleeing monster in an instant and relieved it of its head. Seeing another nearly reaching the forest, she loosed another and pierced its back, forcing it to howl in pain as fell to the ground

However, she had focused far too much on those two – so much so that she only noticed the third approaching when it was only a scant few meters away from her. She hurriedly nocked an arrow to strike it down, but just as the projectile was sailing through the air towards it, something completely unexpected happened.

It was as sudden as any intervention could be. The demon's body seemed to lose cohesion rapidly and lost its size. In a moment, the monster had become the silhouette of a man, one wearing a long, black coat and a top hat which was knocked away by the arrow, previously aimed at the head of this person's former body.

This ability was something they had never used before, and so it caught her completely off guard. The man's manic expression took her aback, and the sheer hate and rage that could be seen on his face were unlike those a normal human could ever muster up. Drawing a long, sharp, crooked knife, he charged towards her.

_Don't move backwards._

Incredulous at what her instinct had just told her, she took a step back. That advice seemed completely unhelpful, but it was right in the end, as Sita tripped and fell back first towards the floor.

The man pounced towards her gleefully, knife raised to stab her chest, moving far faster than he had as a demon.

Before he got the chance, however, he was flung to the side by an explosion as he screamed bloody murder, rolling on the ground with pained grunts. Forcing himself on his knees, the shade seemed to glare at the woman with the cross, who had come to her aid.

"Don't think this is over, you c—!"

Whatever words the man had left to say in his deep, hoarse and unnatural voice were cut off by another explosion which threw his head back with a loud crack. He slumped to the ground and broke down into countless dust particles.

Sita let out a breath of relief. After this long struggle, the battle was over and she still lived.

The man and the girl holding the shield approached. Both were short of breath, but they still stood in front of her, allowing her to see the features of everyone who had stepped forth to protect her.

There was no doubt in her eyes that her assertion was correct and the man was a Master. He was fairly plain looking, if a bit scruffy with his neck length hair, unshaven face and worn glasses.

"You alright?" he asked while trying to hold himself upright. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

She shook her head at his query, and he let out a sigh and mumbled something she couldn't quite hear.

"Forgive my lack of courtesy, but who are you supposed to be?" she questioned.

Breaking from his mumbling, the man took a moment to breathe in and stand firm. "I guess you could call us..." The man paused and pondered the answer for a while. "Well, yes. I suppose you could call us Allies of Justice."

At this statement she couldn't help but look at him in confusion. His companions reacted in much the same way. Seeing how everyone held him up to scrutiny, he deflated and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Ah...ok, yeah. No," he murmured in embarrassment. "T-that sounded a lot better inside my head than it did outside, didn't it?"

If anyone had said anything else, it slipped her mind. She was immensely tired and now that she was safe, her exhaustion finally took its toll on her. As her consciousness faded away, she only hoped the group was not burdened by her presence.


	7. Pressure, Temper and Temperature: Rising

A saint, a knight and a Mexican walk into a museum with an unconscious Indian.

Somehow, that felt like the start of a joke, but I doubted I could have come up with a punchline, let alone the buildup to it – and much to my dismay, I wasn't the only one failing to see the humor in the situation.

Through the projection, I could see Olga pinching her nose with her eyes shut tight and her mouth locked into a scowl. I would have made a snippy comment, but she was clearly _not _in the mood to take any shit and I honestly didn't want to give her a hard time anymore.

After a while of quiet contemplation, she gave a long, drawn out breath. Her exasperation was almost infectious, but given everything that happened, I didn't blame her.

"A gut feeling," she said while restraining herself as best she could. "You helped her out. On a gut feeling."

I remained quiet for a bit thinking of a way to say it without drawing her ire. When I found none, I decided to settle for blunt honesty.

"To be fair, it was nigh-impossible to see the demons as anything other than enemies, so I decided it'd be best to fight alongside this Archer," I replied while motioning towards Sita, who was laying against a wall.

"Putting aside the fact that _you shouldn't have put yourself at risk in the first place_, I have so many objections to this I don't know where to begin!" she growled out at me.

"Boss, hear me out here," I pleaded while scratching the top of my head. "You gave me three jobs; one I already did, another I'm working on and the last I'll manage to do if the Servant we rescued can tell us what's going on here. Can't you cut me some slack?"

"Newman, as a show of good faith for a job well done I'm not absolutely livid right now. It's how you went about doing it that I'm taking issue with." Olga crossed her arms and glared at me. "There is so much that could have gone wrong with your 'plan' and right now we can't afford a single mishap."

"Alright, already!" I snapped back at the white haired woman's comment. "Yeah, it was basically pulling an L. Roy Jenkins! And yeah that was stupid as all hell! But I didn't have the time or resources to come up with a better one!"

"H-hey, calm down, you two!" Romani interjected before anyone said anything else, shutting both of us up. "Look, I know stuff has gone really, _really_ wrong today, but right now we need to cool our tempers. Fighting isn't going to do anyone any good."

I let out a sigh of exasperation and tilted my head up to look at the ceiling. I didn't see what Olga did, but I heard her let out an annoyed huff. We both kept silent for a long while, deciding to take the doctor's advice.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now," Olga muttered, breaking the silence. "I'll let it slide, Newman. But I don't want you getting yourself in dangerous situations if it can be helped. Don't forget: you're barely more than an amateur as a magus and you don't even have a Mystic Code. You can't afford to be reckless, understood?"

I gritted my teeth and let out a breath through them. She wanted me to just do the bare minimum to avoid getting lynched by the clocktower and get someone better equipped to deal with the situation. Perfectly understandable and exactly the kind of thing I'd agree to, but _we weren't going to get any help from outside anymore, _so it wasn't like I could have ignored Sita and allowed her to die.

On the other hand, I _didn't_ want to put myself in risk. I would have rather been out of this hellhole, mopping floors in Chaldea, _thank you very much._

"Alright. Yeah, I'll be more careful," I grunted out with my arms crossed. "I'll try to stay away from danger from now on."

'No promises, though.' went unsaid, however.

Soon after, Olga told us to only call if any urgent matters came up or if the Archer woke up, then she cut off the transmission. There was a ton of things to do and not much left to be said, so the command room was left with only the bare minimum of personnel to keep it operational while everyone else worked on the double to get the main generator back up.

I slowly slid a hand across my face so it pulled my skin along before sighing in exasperation.

"Martha, can you watch over her?" I asked the purple haired saint tiredly while motioning towards Sita. "I'm grabbing some snacks."

The Rider simply nodded at me and turned to face the Archer. I took that as the sign to go do what I wanted and went towards the kitchen. Soon after I started walking, I heard the clicking of heels behind and glanced back to see Mash.

She stopped at that moment, rising a hand towards me and opening her mouth as if to say something, but after a second of thought she lowered it with a downcast expression.

"Yeah, Mash?" I asked "What is it?"

She looked down at the floor when she heard me talk, hesitating for a moment before speaking up. "No, it's nothing," she replied meekly. "Don't worry about it, Master."

"'Nothing' is always _something_ as far as I know, Mash," I pointed out. "Is there anything you want to talk about?"

"N-no." The Demi-Servant faltered for a moment. "There's no need to burden you."

"Are you absolutely sure about that?" I asked "I'm completely willing to lend an ear."

She firmly shook her head. I couldn't help but sigh at her insistence to keep whatever she was going to say to herself.

"Alright. I won't pry any further," I relented. "Just...well. Let me know if you change your mind."

Right after saying that, I gave her a small bow, one closer to a nod than anything else, and left for the kitchen. Once I was alone, I let out my breath harshly.

Of course Mash wouldn't tell me a thing. I was just a stranger who just so happened to become her Master through a series of unlikely coincidences.

I was out of my league in all aspects. Barely aware of the mechanics of Magecraft, terrible at dealing with other people when it was a requirement for the job, physically inadequate and all around unenthusiastic and easily cowed.

Why had I even bothered to look for a job in Chaldea? It would have been so much easier to just go back home, pretend nothing had happened and wait for the Ars Armandel to incinerate me. It wasn't like I was…

When I caught myself in that downward spiral, I let out an an ugly strangled noise. I bit down on my lower lip, not hard enough to draw blood, but not lightly enough that I could just ignore it. The pain forced me to focus on that rather that the thoughts I had previously entertained.

I slumped down against the wall, letting out a bitter laugh, trying to keep it as quiet as possible.

Like hell I was capable of listening to Mash's grievances, I was just paying lip service to be polite. I wasn't in a good enough place to have anyone depend on me for anything.

Shaking my head, I got on my feet and began rummaging through the kitchen. I wasn't really that hungry, I just needed a distraction.

It didn't take long for me to find enough ingredients to make some sandwiches. They wouldn't be anything too fancy, just two slices of bread with mayo, ham and some cheese. The last one was only available as american singles, which I didn't particularly like, but settled for.

I wasted no time getting to work on the snacks, my hands moving in exaggerated motions as I prepared them.

It was just a distraction. I _knew _it was a distraction. But right then, a distraction was what I needed. Pushing all other thoughts to the back of my mind and forgetting about them was what I needed most. I thought it'd be ok, even if I ended up forgetting something important.

Eventually, I went back and offered both of my Servants the refreshments, which they accepted with little thought – though Martha had initially hesitated a little bit before taking one. We ate in silence, and although normally that wasn't something I was used to, I honestly thought it best to keep it that way.

Not long after we finished, we heard a groan. It was none other than Sita herself, who began to wake. I thought of making a joke as she did, perhaps quote the first episode of Futurama, but I decided against it. There was a time and place for joking and this was neither.

I reached for the summoning circle and closed my eyes. The usual jolt of pain assaulted my neck as I ran a token amount of magical energy to ping the Command Room's sensors. The response was nearly instantaneous

"Well?" Olga demanded as her features were displayed in the air.

"She's waking up now, thought you'd want to talk with her," I replied flatly. The director nodded in approval with a serious expression.

After a few seconds, the Archer fully opened her eyes and looked around her, noticing all of the people gathered around and the projected albino. She didn't seem surprised by the place she was in or even by our presence, but even so she took a while to get her bearings and get up from the floor.

"Greetings, Archer. I am Olga Marie Animusphere, director of the Organization for the Preservation of Human Order, Finis Chaldea," the woman spoke imperiously. "We'd like to ask you some questions."

"Straight for the throat, huh?" I muttered before speaking up. "Hey boss, don't you think you're going a bit fast?"

"I'm going at a perfectly reasonable pace, Newman. Do not interrupt me," she hissed.

"I actually agree with Master," Mash interjected with a worried expression. "It feels like we just skipped over something..."

"Yeah, you might be coming off a bit too strongly..." Romani said while offscreen.

"Oh, shut it, all of you!" she shot back heatedly.

Blinking twice, Sita brought a hand to her face. "I think I'm a bit lost..."

"Perfectly understandable, sorry about it," I apologized with my eyes closed and a slight bow. Glancing at the empty plate where I had put the sandwiches before, I got an idea and spoke up before Olga could say anything. "Should I get you something to drink? A snack?"

"Ah, no. I will be fine," she said demurely. "I just need a moment."

"By all means."

The girl nodded and brought a hand to her chin in silent contemplation. I heard Olga huff in annoyance, probably because I was so flippantly undercutting her authority. As much as I also wanted to get this whole thing over with, just hitting Sita up with a game of twenty questions so suddenly wasn't right.

After a while, she breathed in.

"I am Sita, the wife of the great king of Kosala, Lord Rama," she said while giving a small bow with her palms put together in front of her chest. "You have my thanks for your help against those demons. May I know your names?"

"Sure thing, you can call me Alphonse Newman, a Master of the Chaldea Security Organization," I replied while pointing at myself with my thumb before pointing at the projected director. "Over there's Director Olga Marie, who's already introduced herself, and just offscreen is Doctor and official Chaldea chill dude, Romani Archaman." I heard a happy chuckle as I said that. "Right here's Mash Kyrielight, Demi-Servant, and on the other side is...?"

I stared at Martha, wondering if it was alright for me to share her true name. It was only proper courtesy and it wasn't like we were in a Grail War where there was only a limited number of servants and having one's name revealed would put us at a horrendous disadvantage, but I didn't want to go on and say more than I should.

Noticing my gaze, and perhaps my doubts, the saint spoke up herself. "Martha of Bethany, currently summoned under the Rider class. Pleased to meet you."

The girl nodded at our answers. "Well met, everyone. I believe you had questions to ask me? Answering them would be the least I could do for your help and it seems to me that our interests align."

"Yeah, that'd be super helpful," I replied curtly before breathing in. "Sooooo...I think first we need to explain Chaldea, let's start with a super short summary of our situation and then we can move on to the explanations, if that's alright with you?"

I honestly hoped that the situation wasn't too complicated, but knew better than to expect it to be as simple as just taking the Grail and calling it a day.

* * *

_As he made his way towards that man, he found himself unimpeded. There were no obstacles on his way, not even a shade like the one they'd encountered before departing. Though it was convenient, he couldn't help but feel something was amiss._

Don't stop.

_Even so, he kept moving. He couldn't spare a second thought to anything else. Whether those malformed creatures were dealt with or not was something he could worry about later. For now, he had to reach the top, he had to confront him._

Don't stop.

_He had a score to settle, some would say, but in truth the situation was not something so simple as that. After all, he had already achieved victory over him. That moment was one he would never forget, it was one that couldn't be considered more than a footnote in history, but it was one seared into his mind for all of time._

**Don't stop.**

_That raw, indescribable emotion he felt after slaying him was one that he would never let go of. It was something unlike anything he'd ever felt before, elation beyond compare, but one undeserved by him. It sated him even as it left him feeling like he had been hollowed out._

_It was a haunting sensation, and now that the chance had presented itself...he'd make things right. That moment was one he regretted, it was a great mistake._

_This time, he'd kill him face to face. He would not behead him while he was occupied with his chariot._

* * *

I rubbed my eyes tiredly, letting out a loud sigh in exasperation at our circumstances. Judging from the silence, everyone was taking this about as well as I was; that is to say, not well at all.

"Alright, Boss…what you're saying is, we _have_ to deal with the singularity _now_," I broke the silence with a fair bit of annoyance. "Because time here is moving in parallel with Chaldea, regardless of whether or not I'm here. So if we were to wait for the Association, things would keep progressing here and the situation would be a thousand times harder to resolve. Is that about right?"

"That is indeed the case," she huffed. "I must say, you caught on quicker than I expected."

I wasn't sure if she was implying she thought I was a dullard or was praising me with that comment, so I took it as the later and leaned into a wall.

"So how do we go about doing that?" I asked tiredly. "I mean, I've pretty much accepted I gotta do this, but how do we _literally stop a supervolcano from erupting?_"

"Well...I suppose Lady Sita's Noble Phantasm would be the key to doing that." Romani answered, but his voice wasn't full of confidence in the statement he'd just said.

"But when she tried using it before meeting us, its effect was greatly diminished and the changes it made were not permanent," I finished off before looking off to the side. "She's made it clear her Noble Phantasm's not exactly something weak either, so why did that happen?"

"I am not certain, but as I deployed it, I felt as though something was pushing back against it," the Servant of the bow herself supplied. "I could not tell you what it was, but it was certainly something of great magnitude."

I scratched at the back of my head, running my fingers through my hair and pulling hard whenever I encountered a knot.

"So...this thing. If we find and take care of it, that'd be enough to actually get this situation under control, you'd say?" I added thoughtfully.

"That's certainly more to go off on that we had before, I suppose," Olga sighed. "Now that I think about it...well this is just conjecture on my part, but it might be possible that whatever is countering her Noble Phantasm is also what is powering the volcano in the first place, so it would be a massive step forward if you dealt with it right now."

_It_ being a Holy Grail, I considered. There wasn't any need to second guess; it fit the peg perfectly. An object of incredible, nigh-inexhaustible power like that could easily power a massive volcano like the Yellowstone Caldera and give even Heroic Spirits a hard time undoing what it was causing.

And of course, I couldn't blab about it carelessly. Putting Goetia's Clairvoyance aside, information on the Fuyuki Grail War was heavily restricted in Chaldea's database when I read through it a while back. All I could see was that it was 'a ritual which happened in 2004, where Servants and Masters fought to obtain the Holy Grail. The FATE summoning system was created using information gathered from the summoning of Servants in this ritual'.

I shouldn't know a thing about the Grail, so if I said anything, I'd raise a lot of uncomfortable questions that I could _definitely_ do without.

"Well...just what is it though? It's definitely a capital B _Big Deal_," I grunted. "I don't think we'll be able to take care of it without even a bit of trouble. For all we know, it could be a Divine Spirit. Given what little I've read about those, we'd be in some serious trouble if we had to tango with one."

"Wha– No, that's stupid." Olga declared upon hearing my statement. "You are not in the Age of the Gods, Newman; that's outright impossible and quite frankly, completely idiotic to even consider."

"And a while back I thought the same about magecraft being real, imagine that," I shot back with a voice positively dripping with sarcasm. "Now look at me, standing as a weird spirit clone thing in a bubble of fucked up time that's currently making a mess out of human history with a girl with a bigass shield, the wife of a God's Avatar and a literal saint from the Bible."

The Director stared at me harshly, letting her displeasure be known but not outright telling me.

"I see the point you're trying to make; but it doesn't work that way," she said with a barely restrained sneer. "We're wasting precious time by taking the discussion this way. It's highly unlikely you'll find a Divine Spirit, and in the off chance that you do, you can use your Command Seals to ensure your escape."

I grit my teeth as I looked at the eye shaped mark burned into my hand. The way she took the high ground pissed me off both because she was _absolutely right_ and because she just dismissed what I said.

I clenched my hand as I felt anger slowly try to worm its way into my mind, but I knew I was talking out of my ass in the first place and that any grudge I'd attempt to hold would just peter out and die, so I began to take deep breaths to calm down.

"Right. Anything else we should consider before going?" I asked with a grimace. "I don't want charge in blindly without a plan."

"I suppose there's the matter of getting to the Caldera in the first place," Romani interjected. "I mean, it's a volcano and it's now active. It's going to be so hot you'd need a specialized Mystic Code to avoid dying from the heat and keep the ashes entering your lungs."

"That will be no issue," Sita replied firmly. "Although my Noble Phantasm is weakened in that area, it should still be strong enough to ensure your well being."

"Are you sure? One-hundred-percent?" I asked seriously. "If for some reason something happened, I could die out there."

I wasn't sure how that would feel like, but I had no desire to know by being instantly set on fire and having my airways get filled with ashes.

"The only way in which any harm would come to you while within the area covered by my Noble Phantasm would be if I myself perished," the young woman assured me with complete confidence on her face. "And even if such a thing were to come to pass, I'm certain you would have a few minutes before your life would be endangered."

"That's...relieving," I muttered, surprised by her intense gaze. "But wouldn't it be too much of a drain to keep it active for so long? We're still using our backup generator, after all."

"...That's a legitimate concern, I suppose," the Archer said in thought. "Although it is not too great a burden when it comes to its consumption of magical energy, I fear you might not be able to support its continued use and enable the use of other Noble Phantasms at the same time."

"That's pretty bad for us if a fight breaks out," I noted. "Speaking of, we also need to worry about that; _fighting_."

"Well, I suppose the...Shadow Servants definitely need to be considered," Romani added while mentioning the creatures we recently fought and Sita dealt with. He didn't seem entirely sure if the name we'd agreed to give them was actually all that accurate back when it was proposed. "And Karna, although Arjuna is already on that."

"Right, Karna." I sighed upon the mention of the Hero of Charity. "He's probably the bigger problem of the two. Sita and Arjuna took care of the Shadow Servants they saw. If there's more they didn't know about, we can't plan around them."

"I'd argue that they are a far more pressing concern, especially if there's an Assassin," Olga scolded lightly before taking a hand to her chin in contemplation. "But you're right, we don't even know if there's more of them or their capabilities if there are, so any planning would be moot unless we were holding a defensive position..."

As she trailed off, I looked back at the Archer and asked. "Well Sita, do you know how long has it been since Arjuna ditched you?

"...I wouldn't put it so bluntly, but I believe it's been at least an hour from that point to the moment you met me," she answered politely. "I am not sure for how long I was unconscious, so I'm afraid I cannot give say any more information than that."

"Well, it took about thirty minutes, give or take a few…" I muttered. "Add to that about...I wanna say twenty minutes of conversation and it's been nearly two hours since. Do you think he's reached Karna by now?"

"It is likely," she answered curtly.

"Hm...that's bad, our odds would be better if we were with him as we fought Karna," I groaned.

I wasn't sure if he had his bullshit armor of invincibility either, but it would definitely be an uphill battle even without. 'A true hero kills with his eyes' after all...his high-powered laser eyes.

"Wait, Newman?" Roman cut in worriedly. "The way you said it makes it seem like you think Arjuna is going to lose."

"We haven't exactly caught a lot of lucky breaks today and I don't think that's going to change, Doc," I replied and proceeded to hold my chin. "That aside...yes, I'm pretty sure Arjuna killed Karna while he was defenseless in their legend. Things are most likely not going to play out the same way unless he catches him unaware."

I knew little of both combatants, but I thought it was safe to assume Arjuna would get bodied without anyone helping him. Karna was just too strong and unless the Archer went for hit and run tactics and stayed as far away from Karna's reach as possible at all times, I'd put my money on him losing badly.

Sita looked like she was about to add something, but we were all interrupted by something on the periphery of our vision, on a window to my left. I turned to see a bright light in the direction of the geographical formation we'd been discussing.

My first thought was that the volcano had erupted while we dallied, but before I could vocalize that, I realized it couldn't be right. It was a bright red pillar extending towards the skies, moving wildly as if it was a flame.

"_What?_" I muttered incredulously, not believing my eyes as a shape formed in the heavens, a circle with eight points which expanded further and further every second.

Then, a similar shape appeared just below the previous one; a wheel which held eight sharp lines intersecting at the center, all of which extended outside of the perimeter at varying lengths. It vaguely reminded me of the sun and had me very nearly soil my pants as recognition set in.

"Everyone take cover! That's—!"

Romani's sentence was cut off by an earth-shattering shockwave.


	8. Agni Pariksha

I felt a dull pain throughout my entire body as though I had rolled down a hill recently. It wasn't a pleasant sensation to wake up to and neither was the throbbing of my head and ringing in my ears.

I put a hand on the ground, trying to push myself up but immediately stopped when I felt something sharp digging into my hand. With a hiss, I rolled on my back and opened my eyes. Everything was an unrecognizable blur that moved to and fro, completely disorenting me.

I clenched my teeth and waited for my senses to settle. Eventually, I realized I was looking at the night sky.

"Master, are you alright?" I heard Martha call out to me from out of my sight, turning my head in the direction I heard her voice, I saw her looking my way worriedly, Mash and Sita standing at her side and in front of her respectively.

"What..." I grunted before I could continue. "What happened just now? Where…?"

"A Noble Phantasm, a quite devastating one at that." The Saint said grimly as she approached and offered me her hand for the second time today.

I took it and rose up with far more difficulty than before, stumbling once before righting myself. Before I could ask what she meant by that, I looked around me to see just what had happened.

The building was gone. There was no longer a ceiling or walls to hold it with. All of the display cases that had been around us were shattered and toppled down. Turning to the right I saw that the part where we were standing in was untouched for the most part, as was the van we had requisitioned. A chill ran down my spine as I saw several trees were knocked down.

And then, I turned to the left and saw it with my own eyes, something so terrifying I couldn't help but take a few steps towards the scene.

It was a sight from Hell itself, I thought for a second. Where there was once a forest there was now only smoke, clouds and fire, even so, I could see the mountain, the volcano off in the distance.

_It was far, far smaller than it was before._

My breaths turned heavy as I dropped on my knees.

"What the fuck…? What the _fuck!?_" I howled as I felt something inside me simply _snap. _How could it not? The destruction before me was unlike anything I'd ever seen with my own eyes, and this sight sunk in the fact that _I was not prepared for anything _the world would toss my way.

This right here?

_That was the sort of thing I'd be facing. The power the heavy hitters could bring to bear._

"Snap out of it, already!"

I winced at the sudden call and turned to see Martha wearing an angry expression which she held for several seconds before breathing in, her countenance softening considerably.

"Master, I know this situation is deplorable, but you must hold strong until it is all over." She lectured me. I grit my teeth at her words but refrained from saying anything. "I know you're feeling overwhelmed, but the worst has already passed. Calm down."

I let out a hoarse breath, unsure of how to reply. The saint took a moment to look back at Mash and Sita, sharing a meaningful glance with them before the two girls moved towards the van we'd requisitioned a while back.

I felt the saint's hand on my shoulder. Though I was taller than her by a considerable margin, I felt like I was the one being dwarfed by her.

"Come Master, we have a great opportunity right now." Martha urged. "We must strike while the iron is still hot."

I still had my misgivings, doubts, fears and complaints...but I shoved all of them aside for the time being, as hard as that was. Right now, all I could do was to be led around and follow orders from people who knew better than me.

There wasn't any other option I could be afforded.

* * *

I grit my teeth as the car bounced around for the nth time since we began moving, the uneven terrain and Martha's rough handling of the van making my rear intimately familiar with pain.

I keep my head lowered to avoid looking outside. I didn't need to get more messed up by the situation than I already was nor did I want to see how badly everything was torn up by Karna's Noble Phantasm.

Letting out a sigh, I spoke up for the first time in a long while.

"Hey Mashu, Any idea of how long we'll be without comms?" I asked the Shielder. "Did the Doc or Olga say anything?"

"No, we don't have an exact timeframe" The cyclopean girl answered quickly, though she seemed a bit nonplussed about something. "They said we should go ahead with the plan even if they don't establish communications by the time we are in position."

"Here's to hoping they get back to us before we arrive, wouldn't want them to miss a thing." I voiced cynically.

It didn't take long for the van to take a great leap over a mound of dirt and land hard enough to make my teeth click together as my jaw moved jerkily. When Martha began moving again, we all could hear a sound similar to a blender's blades hitting a knife. It was almost time to ditch our ride, it seemed.

Chaldea cut off communications willingly and begun doing the bare minimum to make sure we were still observed by Chaldea's wonderful machines, all to divert power to let us use two Noble Phantasms simultaneously.

"By the way, Master?" Mash addressed me again, and so I turned to see a puzzled expression on her face. "Why did you call me Mashu?"

"Did I? I'm sorry, I didn't catch myself doing it." I said with some embarrassment. "Think of it like a nickname?"

"Um...Isn't the point of a nickname to shorten one's name?" She questioned.

"I mean, not necessarily? Sorry if it bothered you, I'll try not to do it again." I answered with a small wince.

"No, I was just caught off guard, that's all." The girl replied quickly. "It's ok."

Much to our luck, we didn't get much time to wallow in the awkwardness before the van shook wildly as it crashed and tumbled. The engine sputtered and struggled as Martha tried to force it to work once more, but the saint already pushed the vehicle to its limits and beyond.

"Well, it's time." I grunted as I rubbed my sorry, battered behind.

The three ladies turned and nodded meaningfully at me. I wasn't looking forward to it, but it would be better to get it over with as soon as possible.

Leaving the wreck of a van behind, I looked towards our goal. It was further away than I'd have liked, but we had no choice in the matter.

"Let's get started." I said while glancing at Sita, who stepped ahead of all of us as soon as I said that.

I couldn't see her expression, but as she lowered her head and rose her hands, almost as if in prayer, I thought she must have closed her eyes.

"O beloved lord of mine, know that I would never cast aside your love for another's. If duty demands I provide proof, I shall gladly do so."

At her words, motes of soft, pink light began to rise from the ground. A strange feeling began to wash over me. That wasn't because of what she was doing, at least not directly. Thinking about it, it must be because this was the first time I'd see a Noble Phantasm deployed.

"Thus, I ask; lay your eyes upon me and the results of this trial. Behold my conviction, my love and my faith for you."

Sita rose her head and spread out her arms wide, and with that gesture, she was suddenly engulfed in fire. The sudden combustion surprised us all, but before we could react, she spoke once more, declaring the name of her Noble Phantasm for all the world to hear.

"Agni Pariksha!"

The flames that engulfed her spread out in every direction. I reflexively shielded my face and closed my eyes, but at the moment when the blaze would have passed over me, I felt no heat. As a matter of fact, the air around seemed to lower in temperature considerably. Not enough that it felt chilly, but just enough that it was pleasant.

Opening my eyes and looking my surroundings, I was in complete shock. 'A Reality Marble' was my first thought when I saw just how different everything was, but that was wrong. The lay of the land was the same as it was a while back, and fair distance away I could see that the terrain was still in the same poor shape as it was.

The difference was so striking it was truly like we'd been transported to another world. What were once blasted wastes was now a breathtaking flower field. Water sprung from the ground and all around us, pink lotus flowers bloomed.

"O' dragon who never knew of love's touch…" I didn't get to stare at this breathtaking sight for much longer before I heard Martha's voice. "The son of Leviathan, now protecting people, come to me!"

When I turned back to face her, I got a faceful of black miasma. And after a couple coughs I saw a creature that made me stand still in fearful awe.

Six short legs like those of a bear, a body like that of a great ox covered in a turtle's shell, a large, scaled tail with a sharp stinger at its tip. I stood before a creature with the head of a lion, with large fangs the size of swords and four horns almost as big as a man. I stared deep into the eyes of the monster in front of me and found it staring right back at me. Were it not for the deep sadness and weariness in those eyes, I would have found myself screaming.

"Let's hurry, everyone." Martha said before she effortlessly leapt upon the back of the beast. "The Tarrasque can take us there quickly, but it'll definitely be a great strain on Chaldea's generators if we keep him out for too long, we can't waste a second."

The other Servants nodded in agreement before approaching the dragon, Sita also jumped on top of it, while Mash tried to find a way to climb.

As I began to approach, I once again focused on the Tarasque's face. He no longer stared at me, but still held the same expression. I thought twice, then thrice about doing something, and eventually I breathed in before swallowing my hesitation and laying a hand on top of the monstrous creature's forehead.

"Hang in there, man. Do your best." I spoke to the dragon. "I hope everything goes well from now on."

The Tarasque glanced at me mournfully and lowered his head for a moment. It might have been my imagination, but it seemed for a second like we both breathed out a sigh at the same time.

It took a bit of searching for a good foothold and a hand from Martha but I made my way up the dragon's shell, sitting a bit behind the saint.

"Uh...hey, you're going to make the big guy go as fast as he can, right?" I asked the saint. "So what do we hang onto?"

"Whatever you can grab is fine. Get ready!" She urged with a rushed answer.

"Wait, no, seatbelts! We need SEATBELTS!" I screamed as the extended her staff forwards.

And the Tarasque _moved._

* * *

_I was going to fall off and die._

My thoughts as the dragon took us ever closer to our confrontation with Karna were different but mostly similar variations of that statement. I didn't even bother seeing how the other Servants were doing, instead choosing to hang on for dear life onto Martha's waist. If she had any protests on the matter I didn't hear them over the sound of the wind running through my ears and my own screams.

Mercifully enough, the ride was as short as it was intense. I could _feel_ as the Tarasque slowed down steadily, and had my lungs still kept any air in them, I'd have stopped screaming just as I noticed my body was getting flung around a little less.

The second I saw we stopped moving I dropped to my back and let a heavy sigh of relief before laughing out in weak wheezes only a few seconds after, completely uncaring of the uncomfortable feeling of the dragon's spiky shell digging into my back.

"I thought my heart was going to come out of my throat and start running" I said between raspy chuckles before knocking on the hard shell below me "I don't think I'll be riding on this guy for a long time."

I took a while to catch my breath even as Sita and Mash got down from the Tarasque, but I had to get down eventually. Once everyone was off the beastly figure, Martha nodded at it, and at that gesture, the dragon breathed out a thick, black cloud of smoke which quickly obscured it's whole body. As he noxious smog dissipated, so did the mighty biblical creature.

"That was pretty cool." I said to no one in particular before turning to face Martha. "So, how close are we. I didn't get a good look."

"We're very close to the summit, or at least what's left of it." The Saint answered quickly. "I couldn't keep the Tarasque out for much longer, not without affecting our performance in an immediate battle."

I nodded, looking back at the path we'd traveled through, I saw the field of flowers produced by Sita's Noble Phantasm. As beautiful as the sight was, there was a clear limit to it. From a certain point onwards, the lotus flowers gleamed weakly, and the further back my eyes were drawn, the less bountiful it was. There was a point at which the field simply disappeared, as though we had never crossed that part before.

We had to get that Grail, and we needed to do it pronto.

"Alright, we'll have to face the music now..." I said unenthused. "Do we have enough time to rest?"

"We can't be too certain about time, but if you need to rest, then we should take a moment to collect ourselves." Sita said with concern clear on her face

"I'm good." I lied through my teeth, preparing to walk before stretching and hearing my neck snap loudly, letting a groan escape me. "Ok no, I take it back, can we take a second off?"

Everyone nodded at this, so I took the chance to sit down. The water on the ground began to soak into my pants, but paid it no mind, I just didn't care.

"Alright, first off, I was pretty negative about it back there, but what do you think, Sita?" I addressed the wife of Rama. "Do you think Karna got killed by Arjuna in that last...thing?"

The petite woman considered the question carefully, closing her eyes as she did so.

"I have no basis for saying this, however..." She began with a distraught expression. "I believe Arjuna lost, and not only that, but Karna still draws breath. We should be prepared for a fight."

"Of course he's still alive. Why wouldn't he be?" I grunted out sarcastically. "Do you think he's noticed us already?"

"It's almost certain, however, in all likelihood, he's still recovering from the fight." She answered.

"Yeah, I thought as much. That thing was..."

Unbidden, the image of the sigil I saw in the sky flashed in my mind.

"That was really something else." I concluded, my throat feeling dry. I composed myself and kept talking on. "I don't think he's just going to stay down and let us finish the job, though."

"You need only leave that to us." Sita reassured me. "You just need to support us when the time comes."

I glanced at the eye shaped mark on the back of my hand, letting out a sigh.

"I'll try not to screw up the timing, then." I added self-deprecatingly. "You're legally allowed to haunt me for the rest of my life if I do."

"Have more faith in yourself and in us, Master." The orange haired lady encouraged me on. "Though the situation might seem dire and the results of this battle aren't certain, I can assure you that victory is not only within the realm of possibility; we can grasp it."

Looking at her honest smile and eyes as she said that to me, I couldn't help but answer back.

"Alright…alright, I'll have a little more confidence."

Looking back at the climb ahead of us, I measured the distance. If I ran at top speed, I could reach the summit in only a minute, maybe a little more, but pushing myself like that would render this whole rest thing moot. With a grunt, I rose to my feet and looked at everyone.

"Let's do this, then."


	9. End of a Legend

Each step I took was filled with trepidation, but also a sense of weightlessness. I wanted this, all of this, to be over already, but I knew it'd be difficult to deal with it to say the least.

When we were halfway done with our climb, we heard the sound of static.

"Huh, the connection is back up?" I mused as I brought a hand up to my ear. "Hello? Command room?"

It took a few more seconds for the signal to become stable enough to hear more than an annoying buzzing sound. "Newman, can you hear me?" Romani spoke up first, a certain amount of panic filtering into his voice. "We're getting very abnormal readings somewhere very close to your location."

"So it wasn't just my nerves then," I grunted. "Yeah, even an amateur like me can tell something's awfully wrong in the air, like a thick mist."

"There's no doubt about it, the source of this Singularity is located right there," Olga noted with a tinge of worry on her voice. "This output...it's producing an immense amount of magical energy, even more than Chaldea's own reactors. Just what on earth is it?"

"Well, this is your last chance to place your bets, we're about to see it with our own eyes," I said dryly. "Can you pick up any Servants out there?"

"Give me a second; there's so much energy in the air it's difficult to see if there's anything like that," the doctor replied as I heard a few keystrokes on the background. "Not there...no, also not there...there! Yes, Servant presence confirmed!"

"Stay as far away as you can out of the line of fire!" Olga commanded just as he finished talking. "If you die, it'll all be over for all of us. The Servants won't have an anchor to this world and there won't be any Masters to replace you."

"Would it kill you to phrase it in a less utilitarian way? Morale management is a pretty important thing, you know?" I complained loudly before sighing. "Well, not like you or anyone can hype me up for what's coming next."

I got no reply to that statement. It was hard to argue with that considering we were going to be fighting someone who was, to put it lightly, _a huge deal. _On my first mission, no less.

"Just stay out of trouble," the woman answered after a while. I just made a sound in affirmation.

As we reached the last stretch, I stopped to take a deep breath. This was it, the end of this insane day was at hand; we just had to kill an Hindu demigod for it. Simple enough.

I began trotting my way up, catching up to the Servants in no time. There was a clear end to the mountain, almost like a line dividing the earth and the dark clouds in the sky. The contrast between it and the beautiful lotus flowers produced by the Noble Phantasm protecting us was a striking one indeed.

When we reached the very top, I was breathless.

As expected, whatever signs of the battle between the two great heroes may have remained were all but gone. All evidence of an epic clash between legends had been washed away by that final attack. In place of all that, there was a massive crater of incredible size. I could hardly measure it with anything resembling accuracy, but the destruction was so widespread my brain blanked out for a second once again. It was so large that even Sita's Noble Phantasm couldn't possibly cover it all even if she stood in the very centre.

The ground in the distance looked dried out and cracked, almost like that of an arid badland, there were no plants or even anything resembling life as far as the eye could see. Far off in the distance, however, there was the object I knew was the cause of the Singularity...though knowing of it couldn't prepare me for the sight of it. Its golden gleam left me in awe as it floated several meters off the ground. On a fundamental level, I knew it was something of immeasurable value and power that did not exist in my world.

And part of me craved it. I was aware of this desire; I wanted to hold it in my hands, to drink deeply from it, to make my every dream come true with it. But most of all…

Those thoughts were interrupted as I lowered my head a bit and saw a figure just a few steps away from the Grail, kneeling down as if in supplication with his back to us. He began to rise to his feet almost as soon as I cleared the peak, clearly aware of our presence.

The black, form-fitting attire clinging to his lithe frame. His pale skin, white hair and the red gemstone in the center of his chest. Everything I could see from where I was standing made him look rather eerie and alien, an unearthly figure that held enough power to nuke a whole countryside.

When he laid eyes on all of us, I couldn't help but feel exposed; weak and naked like a newborn after leaving the womb. I couldn't see his expression from this far away, but I knew it was a neutral, unremarkable one. He wasn't trying to be intimidating or menacing in any way, but his mere existence was enough to set me on edge.

I glanced at everyone and nodded, beginning our march towards Karna as each step spread lotus flowers around the battlefield. After a short while, the man himself began to approach us at a slow walk.

I idly considered ordering Sita to shoot him the second we spotted him, but I was fairly certain he'd see that coming, so I didn't even try. Starting the fight while he was out of range for two of our fighters was a terrible idea.

Eventually, Karna reached the edge of the lotus pond Sita made with each step. He seemed curious about the effect, but I could only guess that because he visibly tracked the encroaching boundary; apart from that, he didn't act at all differently. With him now close enough to parlay with, I could see that he was definitely disheveled, but didn't look quite as worse for wear as might be expected. His armor was gone, his body bruised and caked with dirt, but there were no deep or debilitating wounds maring his skin.

Of particular interest, though, was his spear; or rather, what remained of it. It was well and truly a wreck; cracks and fractures ran across its surface from one end to the other and the sun or eye shaped decoration near the tip was all but gone, making his spear look like nothing more than a long spike that could shatter at any second.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It was time. "Karna, I take it?" I spoke up, then pointed above him, at the golden relic floating at the center of the crater. "We'll be taking _that_."

The man's expression remained unflinching and unchanged, but under his gaze, I felt like I was being closely scrutinized. "If only it were so simple," he answered with a dry voice. "I'm afraid I can't allow that."

Olga chose this moment to interject, a hologram appearing right next to me. "Why? Are you not aware of the consequences of leaving that thing go on?" the woman asked in a near-hiss.

The Lancer shook his head mournfully. "My Master has ordered me to defend this Grail with my life."

The slender man raised his ruined spear, pointing it at our general direction. "I am well aware of the situation, and what will happen should it be allowed to continue. I'm certain my actions could be considered 'Evil', but if you want it, then you will have to take it from me," he stated calmly, not threatening but merely stating a fact. "It's unfortunate, but we must fight. We cannot solve this with words or other means. Only through battle."

"Is there really no way to convince you to stand down?" Mash asked quietly, Karna's gaze wandered towards her specifically. Just like me, her breathing almost ceased as she stood ramrod-straight.

"What is a Servant meant to do, if not to serve?" he queried. "I may have been known as the Hero of Charity at one point, however I am now first and foremost a Servant. I will follow my Master's orders, no matter what they may be."

Mash looked rather conflicted at this statement which prompted the man to continue talking. "Servant of the Shield, is this the extent of your resolve? Will you falter when facing a situation you could have done nothing about? Your time under your own Master will be full of hardship as it is; a weak will shall prove to be fatal for the both of you."

"Enough, Karna." Martha stepped forth, interrupting him. "You won't let us lay hands on that so-called Grail, and we have come to deal with it. That is all there is to it, correct?"

He nodded once at the question.

"Then there's nothing more to be said or done," she concluded. "Keep your comments to yourself. I believe this girl will grow in time, and she shall be an exemplary Servant. I won't let you trouble her like that anymore."

I couldn't help but be taken aback by the heat in her voice and the way she spoke about Mash. Had I been less shaken, I think I might have tried to tell him to stuff it like that.

It was then that it actually hit me. I hadn't really talked much with Mash ever since we met. I had been a complete fuckup ever since this whole thing started, hadn't I?

"I suppose you're right. There is no need for more words." The Hero of Charity took a breath then leaned forward, preparing himself to sprint towards us. "Come, Master and Servants of Chaldea. Show me your resolve and claim this Holy Grail as your own."

I took a deep breath as I began to step back. Glancing at the servants I held contracts with, I spoke up once more. "Well, everyone, I just got one order...

"Win."

With that single word, I turned and ran as I heard the clash of steel behind me. I almost tripped at one point but quickly made my way to the edge of Sita's Noble Phantasm. Feeling my heart pounding with adrenaline and dread alike, I looked back at the battle.

When I'd seen the three of them dispatching the demons a few hours before, it was unreal. My experience with combat was limited to some sparring videos and stuff on the internet, but it wasn't anything like that. It was faster, flashier and far harder to keep up with.

But this was on another level altogether.

Mash swung her shield with surprising speed for its size, aiming for the head, legs and body. Sita produced, nocked and shot her arrows with all the efficiency of a well-oiled machine, keeping her distance through jumping and dashing into positions that didn't impede the other Servants. Martha followed closely, praying while gripping her staff, producing explosions whenever Mash wasn't actively attacking Karna.

And yet the combined assault meant nothing to him. Every strike was parried with ease, every arrow deflected without so much as a glance, every explosion dodged with the smallest movement. Despite being assaulted by three Servants on all sides, the Lancer managed to keep himself alive through sheer skill and speed. He thrust his spear at Mash's neck whenever he got the chance, and it was only because of Martha that those chances didn't show up often.

Just as I thought the fight wasn't going their way, the purple haired girl batted his hand away. He still gripped his spear tightly, but for a single second he was left completely open. From all the way over where I was, I heard Mash roar as she brought her shield towards his exposed chest.

In his other hand, I saw a flash of light.

"Dodge!" I screamed only a second too late as flames erupted from his palm and into her face, knocking her over and sending her rolling several meters back.

Horrified, I tried to take a step forward...but I couldn't move. My legs locked up on their own as I saw the great hero charge towards her, spear ready to impale her while she was down.

Then I remembered to breathe again as she rolled on the ground, barely escaping him, and several bursts of light carpeted the area in front of him before he could follow up.

I let out a breath of relief as I saw Mash get up, looking no worse for wear. I'd almost forgotten the effects of Sita's Noble Phantasm. Its purpose wasn't to make pretty lotus ponds, but to protect from flames and that which could sear one away. Even if Karna was strong, with his Prana Burst gimped like that he lost one huge advantage.

The man charged towards the Saint, intent on killing her, but Mash managed to get in his way just in time and force him into melee once more, the trio forcing him back inch by inch.

In a small lull between the Shielder's strikes, the man took a great bound back and, bringing a hand to his right eye, he turned towards Sita. In an instant, the place where she stood was engulfed with light. My breath hitched as I heard a deafening booming sound in the distance, and even when it subsided and I saw that the diminutive girl had survived, I still felt immensely concerned.

Brahmastra was still a very powerful tool at his disposal, and as I'd just seen, it was _fast_ and still very deadly despite the rank down.

I saw a flash of light coming from Karna's eye once more. Mash was already upon him by that time, forcing him to block and lose focus. The other Servants joined in with renewed vigor. More than once, he tried to disengage to gain distance again, but they just wouldn't let him move.

Glancing at my feet, I saw the glow from the flowers dimming. Biting my lower lip, I looked between them and the fight a few times before breaking into a run and approaching them. The fight was probably on the verge of ending soon, and I didn't want to see them get so close to victory only to die from exposure to volcanic ash.

If this kept up, they would win this fight.

* * *

'If this keeps up, we will lose this fight.'

The thought crossed Sita's mind as she loosed another arrow to be deflected effortlessly by the Hero of Charity. Though he was lacking his fabled armor, landing a single hit on him was no simple task, more so without Agni's blessing to supplement her firepower. Her allies weren't having any luck in that front either, even if their numbers were enough to close the gap in skill between them.

Karna held nothing back in battle. Were it not for her Noble Phantasm, the shield bearing girl would have perished with that one blast. Were it not for her instincts, Karna's last attack would have hit her head on.

Although they could keep him at bay, they couldn't do more than that. For his part, he was quick to react and move, it wouldn't be long before he found the proper opportunity to strike one of them down, and as they were the rest would fall only a few moments later.

She was not completely willing to invoke the true name of the bow she carried, but they had to end the fight now.

_Not yet._

The man's spear slid across the edge of the pink haired girl's shield, narrowly missing her face by a few inches as she craned her neck to keep it out of the way. She charged to tackle him head on, but the Lancer moved his spear away before kicking off the slab of metal.

_Not yet._

Still in midair, Karna formed a ball of fire that he brought to his face and blew into, launching several streams of flame that impacted next to the other Servant's feet. Their strength was approximately that of a firecracker, but it was enough to shock the inexperienced girl into inaction.

_Not just yet._

Sita pushed aside her hesitation; she had to act now or else everything would spiral out of control. Nocking a new arrow, she distanced herself from her allies even further and pulled the string as far back as she could. The groan of wood bending under the tension brought a small smile to her face, a memory from far too many years ago surfacing at the action.

It was at this moment that she had a terrible premonition. She should have listened to her instincts, waited just a bit longer.

"Miss Kyrielight, use your Noble Phantasm—!" Sita warned the Servant of the Shield, who seemed rather shaken by the sudden interjection.

Karna pulled back his arm as if to throw the flame in his hand. A burst of light quickly enveloped the limb, a thunderous noise rang out it hung down limp and dripping blood. The hero didn't so much as make a noise of discomfort as he retreated further back, away from them.

She let go of the arrow, not bothering to confirm if it had done anything. and turned to sprint towards the pink haired girl.

But she was a second too late.

In an instant, she was swallowed by the searing light of Brahmastra. She was assaulted by a pain unlike anything she'd felt in life and her time here, and her perception of time seemed to slow down only for the sake of increasing her suffering. It was an experience almost like having one's eyes forced open and directed towards the sun. Caught in a state of delirious agony, she felt as if thorns were growing all over her body, underneath her skin – from their position it was almost as though all the veins and arteries in her body had dried out.

_"Sita, come here!"_

A voice pulled her back to her senses, then filled her with a sensation of weightlessness.

When she came to she was on the ground, right next to the young man she held a contract with. Her skin was covered in scorch marks and burns; one would have thought that her Noble Phantasm would have mitigated the damage further, but the fact that she had survived a direct hit from something of the magnitude of Brahmastra in the first place was a testament to the strength of the one miracle which it reproduced.

Numb and battered, she looked at the man. On his left hand she could see a single red circle the size of a bean; he had used one of his Command Seals to bring her to his side, but what of the other?

She received her answer when she turned her head to the side.

The girl held up her shield, a circle of light spreading out a short distance away from her, protecting them from the ray of light that had struck her only a moment ago. The radiance vanished after a couple seconds, but appeared soon after, time and time again.

As the shield was hammered by the constant assault from Karna, she saw the girl strain under the pressure. Her Master's face was filled with terror and desperation as he looked between the last Command Seal on his hand and the barrier between them and certain death, and with the repeated attacks she could see a hairline fracture marring its surface and growing larger by the second.

This came to an end eventually, but she could not rest easy. Karna stopped attacking, however she had the sinking feeling that he was only doing so in preparation for a devastating attack that they couldn't possibly guard against.

Time, options and energy. They were all quickly being exhausted and soon, their lives would follow.

She breathed in, trying to pick herself up from the floor, the young man looked torn as to what he should be doing.

She knew what that would be. She knew what she herself should do.

"Master, listen carefully." Before he could say a single word she continued, "That last Command Seal...please use it on me. I will leave the specific order in your hands, all I ask is that you set me upon Karna before it's too late."

"Are you crazy!? You're wounded! Do you even know what you look like right now!?" he snapped at her. She couldn't help but feel some mirth at his words.

"Listen to me; this is the only way you'll be able to win," she replied with a level voice. "I'm not sure if I'll be able to end the fight myself, but I am sure it will end soon after if Karna doesn't choose to dodge. Agni Pariksha's effects won't last for long once I'm gone, so make sure to retrieve the Grail by then."

The man was completely speechless, unnerved by the tranquil peace in her words despite their meaning. Turning once more to Karna, she saw him hold up his spear above his head, quickly spinning it over himself.

"We don't have time. Grant us strength, Master," Sita said with one final smile. "The rest, we'll handle ourselves."

Breathing quickly, he closed his eyes. "Dammit, alright!" he yelled in panic before stretching his left hand towards her, the last of the red brands glowing with power. "Sita! By my Command Seal, I order you..."

He swung his arm towards the Hero of Charity. _"Jump behind that bastard and nail him with an arrow as hard as you can!"_

The Archer felt the order take hold, a rush of magical energy empowering and revitalizing her for the single purpose of following that one order.

And follow she would.

She stood once more and steadied herself before sprinting forwards, picking up speed until she stood just behind the wall of light. Her last step was heavier than all others before, splashing water so far it reached even the young man who had given the order.

And thus she jumped. It was a magnificent bound of a speed that she could not have reached on her own. As she passed the barrier, she prepared what she knew would be her final arrow, pulling back the string to its limit. Her grip on the bow was so tight a human's hands would have been shattered a thousand times under the strength.

Karna was quick to notice her flying towards him. His spear was wreathed in an unearthly, pale flame, ready to be thrown. This she wouldn't allow, and almost as if reading her intent, he seemed to prepare himself for what would follow, even as fast as she was going.

She reached her position behind him in a fraction of a fraction of a second, but even so he was ready to receive her, his spear pointed towards her, ready to be launched her way.

Sita closed her eyes, allowing the memory to cross her mind one last time.

Compared to how she looked when Lord Rama had rescued her, she was but a child. On that day, many men, some young as she was, others fully grown, with beards and white hairs, had come forth. They talked and made merry, for why would they not? It was a day of jubilation, they were holding a Swayamvara, a celebration where she would be visited by many suitors and of them choose one that she would join in marriage.

The test by which each suitor's worth would be measured was deceptively simple. Her family had a particular heirloom, a great and beautiful bow. The one who could lift and fasten its string would be the one to marry her.

That bow was no ordinary one, for it once belonged to Shiva himself. Many tried their hand at the test, and all failed. Some were unable to so much as approach the weapon.

That was until Lord Rama took it upon himself to lift the bow. He was just as young as she was, but his noble posture and the confidence of his every step bore a weight that age could not reflect. Though none openly mocked him, some couldn't hold back their amusement when he stepped into everyone's view; this soon changed as he finally lifted the bow with a single hand.

For as long as she lived, she would never forget that one moment which marked their union. That moment when wood strained as he bent the bow to string it. That second when the sound of cracking wood reached every ear. That instant when it fractured, splintered and finally broke in his hand.

She opened her eyes and invoked the true name of that bow even as it began to fray and shatter in her own arms.

"Pinaka!"

As soon as the arrow was loosed, the bow of Shiva was snapped in half. Karna realized his mistake too late as the projectile impacted against the tip of his spear. The magical energy he'd gathered instantly dispersed as the weapon was smashed apart, shrapnel impacting against his body, digging deep into his arm and torso.

With that single strike she had changed the situation completely, but as he looked back at her, he realized that reckless attack was not intended to kill or even harm him. No, that was simply a bonus; the true purpose behind her actions were made instantly apparent.

Sita fell, and as she did, a pair of supple arms held onto her. Her descent was light and gentle. Even as wounded as she was, she couldn't help but feel genuine joy as she lay in the arms of the young man who tenderly held onto her.

She weakly raised her hand, lightly caressing his face. Her fingers comfortingly traced a line across the tear that threatened to fall from his face, even though she herself was weeping.

"Sita, forgive me please. I was a fool, I couldn't..."

She shook her head slightly, silencing him. "You came for me, Lord Rama. In the end, that much is good enough for me."

The King of Kosala grasped her hand tightly. As her body let off flakes of gold, he couldn't help but openly weep. "One day. One day, we _will_ be together again," he said as he clutched her close. "I swear to you! Wait for me Sita!"

She made a small noise in affirmation before closing her eyes. "Thank you, Lord Rama. That is all I needed to hear."

With those words, she disappeared from the world. Her body was gone from his arms, but her weight remained in them. Were it not for her words, the sensation might have been unpleasant, but now that weight was one which he'd shoulder with renewed purpose.

Rama stood after a few seconds, turning to face Karna and pointing his blade at him.

"Hero of Charity," Rama addressed him with no heat in his voice.

"King of Kosala," Karna greeted while lowering his head slightly and smiling. "It's unfortunate we couldn't meet under different circumstances."

"Truly lamentable, yes," the young man replied while shaking his head. "I would have liked it if you had fought at my side, and the chance to compete in archery against you would have been a wonderful one."

"As a Saber?" the white haired man asked with amusement. "Are you perhaps underestimating me?"

"You've been summoned as a Lancer, haven't you? I believe that would make us even," Rama answered with a chuckle.

Though they bantered happily, the air was tense. Their intentions and objectives were each clear to the other.

The Hero of Charity was the first to move, taking a great leap backwards. His eye shimmered and thrummed with power, but even then there was no chance, not as he was. Rama was quicker, perhaps faster than Karna had he been fighting at his peak.

It was inevitable. It was lamentable. But the result was just what it was, and both heroes accepted it.

Karna's white locks were drenched with water as his head fell from his shoulders and onto the lotus flowers below, soon dispersing into gold dust along with his collapsing body only a second after.


	10. End of the Line

I let out a breath of relief and knelt down. It was over, the worst was finally behind us. It was hard to believe, but despite all odds, Karna was dead. I couldn't quite understand what Sita had done at the end there but the results were all I really cared about. I really wanted to just let my body collapse completely onto the water below…

But I knew I couldn't rest easy. Not just yet.

"Someone grab the Grail," I said tiredly to no one in particular. "I think we all want to go home now."

With my gaze lowered, I didn't see who, but I heard the splashing of water as someone stepped away from me.

"Good God, please get me out of this place already guys," I muttered.

"Don't worry Newman, we're queuing up the Rayshift as we speak," Roman told me, his flickering image appearing before me for a moment. He beamed. "Excellent work out there."

I felt a warm sensation in my chest at the words, though it was extremely muted by another one.

"I dunno, I don't feel like I did anything noteworthy," I grouched. "I don't think a Master should be as passive as I was during this whole thing."

"Well, it's not like humans can be very proactive in a battle between Servants; even as a Magus, to so much as interfere in one would be suicidal without special circumstances at play or years worth of prep work behind you." The Doctor sighed loudly. "But the fact that you've survived a battle against a hero like Karna is noteworthy by itself."

"I guess I'll take your word for it, even if I think that was more everyone else's doing," I mumbled before deciding to finally take stock of my surroundings. Mash stood close, while Martha had gone on to grab the Grail. From the place where Karna had been killed, a figure began approaching us; it was similar to Sita, but I had seen her from that distance not too long ago, so I knew it wasn't her.

I was a lot less nervous when it got close enough for me to recognize them as Rama. Though I didn't know why he was here, I could guess that Sita had done something to summon him and that's what she wanted my last Command Seal for.

"Are you my Master?" the young man asked once he got close enough.

"I can't exactly say for sure, I'm still iffy on the details of what happened," I said while rising up to my feet, towering over the Great King of Kosala. "I'm inexperienced as a Master, so I can't tell if there's a connection, but I'll say yes."

"I see," the young Servant remarked. "You certainly look ragged, which is unsurprising given the man you were fighting."

Rama smiled while driving his sword down on the ground. "But you may rest easy now that I am here. Servant Saber, the Great King of Kosala, Rama."

"Pleased to meet you, sorry I couldn't do that while looking more presentable," I answered offhandedly. "It's a shame we won't be working together for long now."

"Indeed, it seems you're almost done here," Rama agreed with a nod before giving me a bright smile. "But even if we part ways here, I hope I can work alongside you once more at some point."

I blinked, slowly craning my head to face him before speaking numbly. "I'm...not quite sure what sparked the thought."

"It's quite simple, really," the young man stated with confidence. "To summon me, Sita broke Pinaka. I know her well enough to know that she'd be reluctant to so much as use it; doing something such as that is not something she would have considered lightly, even in desperation."

The boyish king shook his head even as he spoke with fondness in his voice. "With that in mind, I'm curious about what kind of a man you are, and why Sita would call me here to your side," he finished.

What kind of a man I was...I was about to make a self-deprecating comment, but I didn't think it wise to say that his wife was a terrible judge of character.

"Well, then here's to hoping we meet again, then," I answered.

All in all, the exchange felt fairly stilted. Since it was mostly on my end, I decided to try putting that awkwardness behind me and just focused on staying on my feet.

Looking back at the center of the crater, I saw Martha heading our way, one hand on her staff and the other on the Grail. I let out a sigh of relief. Just as I was about to say something to the effect of "let's go home now" we all heard a loud, echoing sound. Despite the acoustics of a huge crater outdoors not being uniquely suited for it, we all heard it as though it came from only a scant few meters away, the sound of someone slowly clapping their hands lazily and even sarcastically.

Turning to the source, I spotted the one person who I knew I had forgotten about, the one person who I really didn't want to deal with.

The green-clad man clapped a few times before grabbing his top hat and bowing. "Quite impressive! I never would have imagined you'd do such a fine job. Congratulations, lad." Lev's voice reached us with no trouble.

And naturally, I felt his displeased gaze on me even at that distance.

"You're quite..._irksome_, you know that?" the man expressed his dissatisfaction while adjusting his hat, standing full of confidence even as the Servants stood on guard and raised their weapons. "If one of the Masters had gone and done this, I would understand it. But for someone like you to have dealt with the situation...well, that is a fluke among flukes, but it makes it no less irritating."

"Lev! You're alive!" Olga yelled through comms.

Her desperate expression was painful to look at, knowing who he was and having a vague idea of how much he meant to her. I couldn't hold back my frown as I turned back to the man, who tipped his hat in response.

"As are you, Olga, and by the looks of it, so is Romani," the man replied genially and chuckled. "Seriously, you people...

"_Make me sick._"

His voice came from our left. Snapping my head in that direction, I saw him standing far closer to us. "You can't even _die_ when you're supposed to."

With a quick glance, I saw that he was gone from his original position. I stepped back with a grimace even as his eyes bored into us.

"What? Lev, what's that supposed to mean?" Olga's voice wavered as she asked that question.

"All you had to do was stand in the same spot as you oversaw preparations. The bomb was planted right there. Right there, at your feet!" Lev answered with a wide shrug. "Honestly, was that too much to ask for? Did you really have to personally go looking for that layabout yourself?"

I ground my teeth as the demon in disguise droned on. He was too far away for Martha to hit him, Rama was a Saber and Mash was busy placing herself between him and me.

Looking at her shocked expression he scoffed and continued. "Is it truly, honestly, genuinely, really that difficult for _you_ to understand, _Olga?_" the man in green spat, each word filled with venom, his face morphing into an ugly sneer full of contempt and anger. "It's no wonder Marisbury favored Kirschtaria over you."

The Animusphere did not reply. The poor girl was completely frozen in shock at the loaded statement he'd just shot out. He looked like he was going to say something else, but instead he let out a sound of displeasure.

"Oh, why do I even bother? You're not even _worth _mocking; it's too easy, so much so that it sours the mood," he taunted tiredly. "Had you died, I'm certain this would be far more entertaining, but alas."

"I may not look it, but I'm quite the busy man. Still, before I leave..." he said, once more seemingly teleporting, this time to the center of the crater, his face focused fully on the Doctor. The wide, unhinged smirk put all of sharp fangs proudly on display. "Romani? Are you listening? As a last gesture of respect as a colleague and a friend, I will tell you a simple fact: Chaldea and the human race have already lost. I'm sure you've realized this yourself, it doesn't take a genius to understand with all the signs already in place."

Romani kept quiet, his discomfort laid bare and apparent but held back by some measure of resolve. "The way you're saying it, the fact that Chaldeas is bright red..." the Doctor grimaced. "Are you telling us that all of humanity disappeared just like twenty-nineteen?"

"Wishful thinking!" Lev chortled. "They haven't 'disappeared', they've been _incinerated! _All of them, along with your era, the past, and all of history! Chaldea may yet stand, but that won't be the case forever; in time, it will burn up like scrap paper...and so, too, shall you."

The man turned his back on us and adjusted his hat while giving us a dirty look. "You incompetents lost our King's good graces; three thousand years' worth of constant disappointments are enough to chip away at the patience of even the greatest of saints," he said before beginning to walk away from us. "Continue your unsightly struggle if you will. Cry, suffer and stumble as much as you want...in the end, it's all as futile and meaningless as your existence itself."

I let out a huff at the end of the disheartening speech, not really paying it much mind. All of the insults and demeaning he tossed around felt rather impersonal to me.

"Love you too, you leprechaun looking motherfucker," I snarked through my teeth without thinking.

At that, there was a long silence. Being keenly aware that something was amiss, I glanced around and saw all the Servants staring at me. Dread began to pool in my stomach; had I actually said that louder than I wanted to?

The quiet was broken by a chuckle, coming from Lev. After a while, the chortling increased in loudness and intensity, turning to a laugh and soon after into an uproarious cackling that made his entire body convulse. He held his head with his hand as he arched his back forward.

Before I could so much as process the moment when his laughter stopped dead, he stood right in front of me. Mash's eyes widened as she realized what was going on.

"Learn your place, _trash_."

And in that moment I felt as though my entire body was set on fire.


	11. Through the Eyes of Others

Mash Kyrielight was not sure what to make of her Master.

The young man was rather inscrutable. It was hard to hold any definitive impression of his character. Most of the time, he was silent and wasn't much for words. He was anxious, quick to grumble and more than a little bit irate. At the same time, he did seem to be trying his best, taking charge of the situation as best he could to resolve their problems, and he was at least making an effort to help her get some peace of mind.

She was about to ask him for a word, but thought better than to bother him with her insecurities. He was holding himself…'remarkably well' didn't seem like an apt descriptor, but she believed he was doing better than her, all things considered.

That illusion was shattered shortly after he left. A broken, sad laugh. A fist hitting against wood. Barely audible mutterings. Though she didn't intend to eavesdrop, she managed to pick up on all of those sounds. She decided she was right at that moment; it wouldn't help him to burden him with any more things.

"Are you alright?"

The girl was snapped out of her thoughts by the sudden voice of the only other conscious person in the room.

Saint Martha. Sister to Mary and Lazarus, who bore witness to Christ's miracles and performed some of her own, chief among them the taming of the Tarasque. If she were to be honest, she felt awfully inadequate compared to the purple haired woman currently worrying about her.

She was a full Servant, one who lived a full life and performed deeds which all but made her earn her place in the Throne of Heroes. Meanwhile, she had nothing to speak about, noteworthy or not. Her power had been given, rather than earned.

She wasn't sure if Martha could help her, but...

"Actually..."

If she wanted to be of more use, she'd have to stow her uncertainty somehow.

* * *

Martha of Bethany felt rather conflicted about her Master.

He was not evil. Of that much she could be certain.

Over the course of only a scant few hours, one would not be blamed for forming a rather unpleasant image of the man. Spiteful towards his superior. Completely unable to look at anyone straight in the eye. A hoarder who took things he did not truly require. Of poor constitution and poorer heart.

Yet, Martha chose to believe in him. He was not _evil_, just someone ordinary at the end of his rope.

She had seen the desperation in his eyes many times before. She had heard the strain on his voice as he quipped and deadpanned many times before. She understood that she was looking at a man looking at the lowest point in his life, and wishing that he did not sink even further down. She was willing to entertain this as more than wishful thinking on her part because for all his faults, he had some good qualities, even though they were eclipsed by his worse side.

Though he was shivering in his boots, he worked up the courage to do what he had. A bit reckless, but decisive. Truthfully, she wanted to give him more of a chance before thinking anything of him.

As they all rode the Tarasque to the mountaintop, she saw a new trait that she had no choice but to mull upon. When the beast began to pick up speed, the man wrapped his arms around her waist in a death grip. She felt a bit embarrassed about the sudden contact, but decided not to give him grief for it. However, when the dragon finally reached its maximum speed, the man began screaming.

Yet, it wasn't out of terror, as one would expect. His howling voice was full of excitement and rapturous joy, She couldn't look at his face, but it was plainly clear to her that he was enjoying the experience with unrestrained glee.

It was immensely jarring to her, hearing the quiet, despondent man be filled with such life it reminded her of children in her hometown playing some new and exciting game.

She didn't understand her Master. She could only hope that she could get to know him in a less dire situation and be able to take his measure when the world wasn't coming down upon him.

* * *

Olga Marie Animusphere thought that she was absolutely done with the Master working under her.

At first, she thought the day would have been a bit of a disaster. Nothing she couldn't manage, but quite the annoyance. With so many of the Magi sent to Chaldea being displeased with their position and her authority, she was sure she would earn their eternal enmity, but she was prepared for that. She was the daughter of Animusphere; politically, the ones she knew to be detractors just didn't have enough clout to do more than mildly inconvenience her, and if any tried something as indecorous as to try to assault her…

She wouldn't relish the chance to let out her frustrations by inflicting great violence upon others. She would do no such thing. That'd be beneath someone of her station, she knew.

When the time for the orientation came, her expectations were not betrayed, but she would not care for their scorn. What she very much _did _care for was the presence of an uninformed, untrained civilian who made an utter fool of herself. The magi wouldn't care about the girl, but the fact that she was there would reflect poorly on her.

For a second, she _wished _that man was the one in there instead. At least he knew how to keep a low profile and look for answers in his own time, if his database browsing history and Romani's word were anything to go by.

Then, everything went wrong in every conceivable way. Decades worth of time, blood, sweat and tears shed by many, many people very nearly went up in flames in the span of a few seconds. As she saw her father's work, his dream begin to crumble, she was on the verge of collapsing herself. She and the doctor did everything in their hands, and as all the survivors were rounded up, as everyone began to tally up the damages, as she was told more about the situation, the tension that threatened to rip her apart began to lessen. It was still unpleasant, but as far as she was concerned? Knowing that CHALDEAS, TRISMEGISTUS and SHEBA had all survived the assault meant that they could eventually recover from this massive blow...provided she herself could survive whatever fallout came from this whole incident.

When the staff confirmed that there had been a successful Rayshift, she began to feel hopeful. The logs were corrupted and they couldn't confirm who it was, but if it was someone from the A Team, then odds were, the entire situation might be salvageable.

"Doc Roman, Director." a pause and a small bow. "Thank goodness you're alive."

When communications were established, she was instead faced with a familiar shoddy, unkempt man in a dusty janitor's outfit.

"You!" She screeched. "Why are you there!?"

It made no sense for the man to be in the Singularity. Last she knew, he had gone towards the infirmary only a few moments before everything went up in blazes. Since they couldn't find him and the general area had collapsed entirely, he had been written off as another casualty.

"Bad luck, poor choices, coincidence, poorer life choices…" the man spoke dryly and lifted his fingers as he listed off those things. "It's a long story, can we save this for later?

His lackluster response angered her to no end, but she did not rise to his inciting commentary. She was not at all happy with the arrangements, but she would bear with it, she told herself.

Had anyone told her that she was lying to herself on that point, she would have scoffed.

The man's casual and overly familiar way of addressing her was rankling, but she could deal with it. His incessant complaints, brash attitude and general abrasiveness she could have done without; he had a natural talent to poke and prod at her in just the right way to draw a response out of her.

As the man went on, she internally cursed the United Nations for deciding that she should have civilians acting as Masters. From a practical standpoint, it was a great idea: should the worst come to pass, as it just did, then having someone in reserve would be an enormous boon. There was just one fatal flaw to that idea which would have had her outright refuse to follow through with it if doing so wouldn't have resulted in them pulling their support.

Random civilians couldn't handle circumstances like these.

Certain individuals could indeed be put through high stress situations, but they were the exception, not the rule. The average person would snap like a twig or do something foolhardy.

In this aspect, magi were the opposite from normal humans; the norm was for them to be subject to all manner of things that would see the wills of those who lived normal lives shattered upon the floor. Many were petty and saw themselves first and foremost, but when it came to having to achieve a goal, they could kill the person that they were for the sole purpose of reaching it. The only obstacle for them to fully commit to such thing was pride, and for as prideful as they usually were, when the alternative was the annihilation of the light of civilization?

They would bend. If they did not, then they had more Masters who could prove themselves their betters and they could live with the fact that they were objectively inferior to others as they walked their way out of Antarctica.

That was the idea, at the very least. Unfortunately, there was only one Master left and he proved to her that the UN was foolish in the extreme by being not only exactly the sort of ordinary person who can't handle a bit of pressure like she thought he was, but also an overall unpleasant and acrimonious individual.

She was truly at the end of her rope with him. His unusual circumstances be damned, she hoped they could stabilize someone else so he could just drop dead and stop being a bother.

She came to regret entertaining those thoughts when she saw her mentor, her most trusted confidant stab into the man's shoulder, drawing a blood curdling cry of pain from him. As his screams pierced through the comms, her thoughts became unfocused.

_The Servants attacked in retaliation, but Lev simply danced around them with mirth. Everyone was ejected from the Singularity by force. She ran along with everyone carrying the man in a collapsible stretcher._

The shape of the stars. The shape of the cosmos. The shape of the gods. The shape of myself.  
Stars. Cosmos. Gods. Animus.

_The wound was simply disgusting. Rotten flesh that boiled and bubbled as tissue turned purple. Sores appearing over muscle and skin alike. Amongst the horrifying mass of flesh, a black, thorny bramble had dug itself into his body; it shifted and wound itself tightly on the afflicted parts, buds sprouting and bursting into more vines that repeated the process, and began to drill further into him. They nipped and cut down the shoots wherever they appeared, but it was no good, mundane means were not fast enough. Magical means were barely effective and simply stalled for more time at best._

The heavenly bodies become as a hollow.  
Antrum.

_For something of this sort to be prepared in such short notice seemed nearly impossible, yet it was so. Olga grew even more desperate when the man's howls of agony became weaker by the second. Before she could notice, the Servant he'd summoned manifested herself and insisted that they keep trying their hardest. She pitched in herself, keeping pace with the rest of the group and deftly cutting down parts of the dark shrub as they carried him. Even with her help, it wasn't enough to fully mend him, but it kept him alive long enough for them to reach Da Vinci's workshop._

The hollow becomes as the void.  
Unbirth.

_The Saint kept him alive, preventing the spread of the tainted flesh and blackened flora. Da Vinci operated on the man, meticulously removing chunks of dark, dead meat and vegetation, applying salves and chemicals only she could possibly know the exact composition of. Olga could do nothing but hold the man's head in place and ease his pain with mental suggestion so he didn't die of shock. For several hours on end, they all worked tirelessly. Each movement had to be perfect, and with even one of the three failing, there was no telling what would befall him. She couldn't let this unapologetically rude man die. She couldn't allow herself to be the weak link here. She couldn't let her father's work-! She couldn't be-!_

In the void, there is God.  
Anima. Animusphere.

She stared at the man's sleeping form. His chest rising and falling steadily, almost peacefully. Even as she heard the door open and someone walk into the room, she didn't take her eyes off of him.

The barely acknowledged person grabbed a chair from close by and quietly set it down next to her. He sat, the hard plastic and metal of the legs groaning for a second.

"Da Vinci's already analyzed the samples she took during the operation." Romani Archaman's soft voice reached her ears. "She says that whatever it was that caused his wound to worsen like that is gone for good. He shouldn't have any more complications from now on."

"Good." She answered curtly. The silence that followed was a harsh, cutting one, if the small, indistinct sounds the Doctor let out after were anything to go by, so she continued the conversation. "What about the treatment?"

"She's already growing a cultive." The man answered with a sigh. "She estimates it'll take about two days at the current rate to be ready for grafting. She's convinced that it'll all be fine, but I'm personally a little worried about the possibility of rejection, even if it's grown from his own flesh."

"I see." She replied. "But provided it all goes well, he'll recover motor functions in his arm, yes?"

"He should, and with magecraft there shouldn't be a need for extensive rehab." Roman affirmed. "I'd still like to give him regular checkups and tell him not to strain himself, if you'd allow it."

"That's good to know. And accepted." Olga nodded.

Roman took a deep breath. She recognized the gesture, as he'd always done that to steel himself before having to say something to her displeasure.

"Director Olga, I'm sorry to say this, but at this point, the person who needs the most urgent care in Chaldea has changed." The man looked at her with a frown. "Please, rest up. We can take it from here."

"Do not tell me what to do Romani." She snapped back, ready to say more, but she stopped herself upon fully processing what she'd just said. She bit down and instead looked away.

The man breathed in once more and pointed a finger slightly below one of his eyes.

"Olga, how long ago?"

She didn't understand the man's meaning, but she reflexively mimicked the man's gesture, and once she did, she grasped it. She let out an annoyed sound. She didn't have a mirror, but with how dispersed her attention was, it wouldn't have surprised her if the glamour she'd cast fell apart at some point, revealing the bags under her eyes.

The man waited for an answer. Reluctantly, the Animusphere gave him the answer.

"Five days ago." She replied, realizing the man's rather obvious reasoning.

The man stared at her with an almost uncharacteristic melancholy she'd only seen a few times before.

"Magecraft can be a very useful tool, but it can very well destroy you. Not even because of anything direct, but just because it can make you forget about the way things should be normally." The man mused. "You can still stand and act, but you can only keep supplanting your body's needs for so long with it. Please, Olga, you _need_ to rest. Go to your room and sleep. Doctor's orders."

Olga closed her eyes ready to give a rebuttal, but she knew it'd be too weak to hold ground. Instead, she took a breath and looked back at the man.

"I don't think you'd happen to have some medicine for insomnia on your person, would you?"

Curiously enough, he did. She didn't question why and took the offered, half-empty blister pack with her. On her way to her room, she focused on nothing more than the steps she took to get there, the way her bones ached with each one and the clicking of her heels as she approached.

As soon as she arrived, she locked the door and began to undress, she stopped midway through upon realizing that maybe it'd be better to save water, considering the state of Chaldea, then continued only so that she could put on her nightwear.

She downed two of the pills, just as Roman instructed, then laid on her bed. The sheets were cold to the touch, making her shiver as she covered herself up.

The piled up exhaustion and sleeping drug lulled her to sleep quickly, just as she wanted. She knew that with just one of the two, her mind would wander to places she did not want it to. Not today. Not now. She couldn't face anything today.

Mercifully, that night, Olga Marie Animusphere dreamed a dreamless sleep. One without the face and cruel words of Lev Lainur Bathin plaguing her thoughts.

_One where she wouldn't be forced to look upon Kirschtaria Wodime and her father's backs._


End file.
